FAMU football's recent success has parlayed into top-end opportunities for past coaches
Florida A&M has attracted the football world’s attention in the last half-decade.
Since 2018, the Rattlers have become a perennial powerhouse on the Football Championship Subdivision and HBCU levels.
Most recently, last December, FAMU won its first Southwestern Athletic Conference and Celebration Bowl on the way to claiming the program’s 17th Black College Football National Championship. The Rattlers ended 2023 ranked 10th in the FCS Coaches Poll.
The success has afforded players opportunities through the NCAA Transfer Portal and assisted coaches in their quest to elevate in the profession.
In January, former FAMU head coach Willie Simmons departed after five years to become the running backs coach for the Duke Blue Devils of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Simmons went 45-13 while leading the Rattlers and claimed two Black College national titles in 2019 and 2023. Immediately before FAMU, Simmons was the head coach at Prairie View A&M, giving him nine seasons of head coaching experience.
Now an assistant at Duke under head coach Manny Diaz, alongside coaching the running backs, Simmons helps out special teams and recruits players nationally.
Simmons hopes to translate those skills to become a Power Four head coach someday.
“Those nine years prepared me to make the next step. Being a head coach, you see things from a different vantage point, and it gives me a better appreciation for what our head coach has to deal with daily,” said Simmons, who also has worked as a position coach and coordinator on the FCS and Group of Five level.
“Just adjusting to the life of coaching a position instead of overseeing the whole program. So, I remind myself that my job is to support [Diaz] to ensure his plan works and encourage my colleagues to do the same thing.
“It’s been great that I can take my experience as a head coach and assist in building a championship program.”
FAMU football has also been a launching pad for its former assistant coaches.
The Rattlers’ former special teams coordinator, Chili Davis, spent the 2022 season on The Highest of Seven Hills, building one of the top units in the nation led by All-American punter Chris Faddoul.
After leaving FAMU for a one-season stop at Big 12 Conference’s Kansas State, Davis is now an assistant special teams coach for the Los Angeles Rams. Davis landing the Rams job reunites him with former FAMU standout wide receiver Xavier Smith, who’s entering his second NFL season.
Thus far, Davis has worked with the Rams during their summertime organized team activities. Davis says the Rams coaches’ have a tradition of working out as a staff to get their minds right before delving into the day’s workflow, such as draft preparation, onboarding players, and meetings.
Davis is absorbing all the information he’s learning at the highest level of football.
“I heard wonderful things about the Rams organization before I got here. Being around it and getting a firsthand confirmed everything I thought,” Davis said.
“Being around people who can teach me different ways to be a professional coach and building up some great players has been awesome.”
Former FAMU recruiter Devin Rispress living dream on Deion Sanders' Colorado staff
Behind the scenes of FAMU’s success was the program’s former recruiting director, Devin Rispress.
Rispress, a Tallahassee native and former Rickards Redskins football star running back, joined the Rattlers’ staff in 2022 from being an experienced local high school assistant football coach.
Rispress’ Florida high school connections gave him an eye for identifying prep talent and transfer portal entries. For example, Rispress recruited last season’s FAMU transfers, rising senior running back Kelvin Dean Jr. and former Rattlers receiver Marcus Riley, two players he coached at Rickards.
Dean won the 2023 Celebration Bowl’s Offensive Most Valuable Player. Riley was an All-SWAC selection and is now a New York Jets’ 90-man roster member.
Leaving FAMU this January, Rispress joined Deion Sanders’ staff at Colorado as the Buffaloes’ assistant director of player personnel and high school relations.
Rispress and his young son, Devin 'Worldwide Jr.,’ are far from Leon County. But the goal remains the same for Rispress in Boulder ― recruit.
“I watched Colorado from afar and was a fan,” Rispress said.
“Being at FAMU prepared me for this role. I just put everything I learned from Willie Simmons and the FAMU coaches in my toolbox and brought it here. And it made it a pretty easy transition for me coming into this role.
"It’s a little different because I’m not the director. But I’m doing the same things. Recruiting is what I do, and that’s what I’m doing here.”
It’s a dream come true for Rispress to work with Sanders and equip the second-year Buffaloes’ coach with a talented roster for the program’s inaugural season in the Big 12.
Born and raised in Tallahassee, Rispress grew up rooting for ‘Prime Time’ as Colorado’s head coach starred at cornerback for the Florida State Seminoles before his Pro Football Hall of Fame career.
“It’s great working alongside Deion Sanders, a guy that was one of my favorite athletes. Now, I can help him compete for a Big 12 Championship and become the first African American coach to win a national championship,” Rispress said.
“I love that he’s big on developing young men as people and football players. He’s also investing in his staff and helping us with professional development so we can advance in the coaching business to achieve our ultimate goals.
“Anything negative you read or heard regarding Coach Prime, take it from me; it’s false.”
Former FAMU head coach, current Duke assistant Willie Simmons' coaching tree runs deep
Though having relatively short tenures at FAMU, the impact of the school and football program on Davis and Rispress is indelible.
“Just the tradition that the school and program has is so rich. Whenever you play or coach at FAMU, you feel obligated to uphold that standard or raise that bar,” Davis said.
“Every part of my journey has prepared me for this moment. You can accomplish your dreams at FAMU.”
Rispress, who played college football for FAMU’s rival, the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, said he’s forever indebted to Tallahassee and the Rattlers for allowing him to prove he’s recruiting mastermind on the Division I level.
“Being a Tallahassee native, Rattler Nation and the city have given me much support. I’m always appreciative of FAMU. Even though I’m a Wildcat, FAMU holds a special place in my heart,” Rispress said.
“So, I got to pay homage.”
Davis and Rispress are just two assistants who have worked on Simmons’ staff and moved up. Simmons’ FAMU assistants KJ Black (Atlanta Falcons), Colin Diaz (Duke) Kenneth Gilstrap II (UAB), Alex Jackson (Mississippi State), Mateo Kambui (Pittsburgh Steelers) Chris Klenakis (Vanderbilt), Brandon Sharp (Louisville), Ralph Street (Marshall), and Ryan Stanchek (UTEP), and Shane Tucker (Austin Peay) to name a few are also enjoying the fruits of their labor.
Even Simmons’ FAMU assistant head coach, James Colzie III, succeeded him in leading the Rattlers. FAMU’s assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Joseph Henry worked on Simmons’ Prairie View A&M and FAMU staff and briefly left the Rattlers to assistant coach at Mizzou, Arkansas, and LSU.
The former head Rattler Simmons takes pride in seeing his guys climb the coaching ladder.
“One of my goals as a head coach was to prepare my assistants for bigger and better things,” Simmons said.
“They all have goals and aspirations, and I wanted to try my best to help them achieve them. I’ve been blessed to have some quality coaches who have done great things. That speaks to the quality of the program we ran, which was directly correlated to the quality of coaches that we had.
“All those guys are doing great things in their new endeavors. I’m just so happy to see it.”
Florida A&M Rattlers 2024 Football Schedule
Aug. 24 vs. Norfolk State in MEAC/SWAC Challenge, Atlanta* at 7:30 p.m., ABC
Aug. 31 vs. South Carolina State, 6 p.m., ESPN+
Sept. 7 at Miami, 6 p.m., ACC Network
Sept. 21 at Troy, 7 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+
Sept. 28 vs. Alabama A&M, 6 p.m., ESPN+
Oct. 5 at Alabama State, 3 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+
Oct. 19 at Jackson State, 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN Network
Oct. 26 vs. Southern, 7 p.m., ESPN Network
Nov. 2 vs. Texas Southern (HOMECOMING), 4 p.m., ESPN+
Nov. 9 at Prairie View A&M, 3 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN+
Nov. 16 vs. Mississippi Valley State, 1 p.m.
Nov. 23 vs. Bethune-Cookman, Orlando*, 3:30 p.m., ESPN Network
Nov. 30: FCS Playoffs Begin
Dec. 7: SWAC Championship, LOCATION/TEAMS TBA, ESPN2
Dec. 14: Celebration Bowl, Atlanta*, TEAMS TBA, 12 p.m., ABC
BOLD = SWAC
* = Neutral Site
Gerald Thomas, III covers Florida A&M University Athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Former FAMU football coaches landing jobs on the NFL, Power 4 levels
