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FAMU Board of Trustees approves new head football coach James Colzie III’s contract
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- FAMU Board of Trustees approves new head football coach James Colzie III’s contract
New Florida A&M head football coach James Colzie III's contract is a done deal.
On Monday, FAMU Vice President and Director of Athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes presented Colzie's three-year, $720,000 agreement previously reported by the Tallahassee Democrat to the university's Board of Trustees .
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The FAMU Board of Trustees approved the contract.
Colzie's escalating base salary starts at $230,000 the first year, increases to $240,000 the second year, and $250,000 the third year.
FAMU will pay the Rattlers' 19th full-time head coach, Colzie, $200,000 annually while the FAMU Foundation covers the remaining funds. Sykes added that the FAMU Foundation approved a five-year agreement to support the head football coach's salary "not specific to the individual, but specific to the position."
"I'm confident that what we have committed in the contract as it relates to the increase in salary and any increase due to cost of living will be satisfied within the application provided by the Foundation Board in addition to what's committed from the athletic budget," Sykes said at Monday's FAMU Board of Trustees meeting.
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Colzie's contract with FAMU begins on Feb. 6.
FAMU announced Colzie as the football team's new head coach on Jan. 27 to replace Willie Simmons . Simmons resigned from the Rattlers to become Duke's running backs coach.
Colzie had his introductory press conference on Jan. 29.
If the Rattlers were to win the Celebration Bowl, Colzie could earn up to $82,500 worth of bonuses, with the most being $50,000 from winning the game. Last season, FAMU beat Howard 30-26 in the Celebration Bowl for the outright Black College Football National Championship.
The Southwestern Athletic Conference and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference winners each get $1.2 million for playing in the Celebration Bowl . The money received is to be dispersed across the league's member schools.
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"We'd used the money received from participation in the Celebration Bowl to pay off that bonus," Sykes said.
If FAMU were to play in the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs, Colzie could earn up to $27,500 in incentive-based pay. Colzie would make $2,500 for earning an at-large berth to the FCS playoffs and $5,000 for winning a tournament game. The Rattlers last appeared in the FCS playoffs in 2021 , losing to Southeastern Louisiana 38-14.
The SWAC forgoes its automatic bid to the FCS playoffs in favor of the Celebration Bowl , meaning the Rattlers cannot simultaneously participate in both postseason formats.
If Colzie were to leave FAMU for a head coaching job at another college or professional football team before Dec. 31, 2025, he'd owe the university $100,000 in liquidated damages. If Colzie accepts an assistant position with another college or professional team before Dec. 31, 2025, he must pay FAMU $50,000.
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If Colzie were to get any coaching job elsewhere after Dec. 31, 2025, but before the final football game of the 2026 season, he'd pay FAMU $50,000 in liquidated damages.
FAMU Athletics Budget Update
Florida A&M University athletic director Tiffani-Dawn Sykes introduces James Colzie III as the new head football coach Monday, Jan. 29, 2024.
FAMU Vice President and Director of Athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes is confident that her department can turn around a $817,000 budgetary deficit to end the fiscal year with a balanced or surplus budget.
Two weeks after submitting a five-step action plan to address the budgetary shortfall to FAMU's Board of Trustees on Jan. 21, Sykes notified trustees that the athletics department had collected 55 percent of projected revenue for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
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FAMU's fiscal year is from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.
Sykes announced that FAMU's SWAC and Celebration Bowl championship-winning football season exceeded projected revenue from gate receipts, season tickets, concessions, and parking.
Additionally, Sykes said that athletics have received additional royalties and revenues since turning in her action plan to FAMU's Board of Trustees Jan. 21 and anticipates exceeding projections in that category.
FAMU has spent 80 percent of projected expenditures for the fiscal year. It is also trending higher than anticipated in compensation areas "mostly as a byproduct of an overwhelming successful football season," Sykes stated.
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Sykes has connected FAMU Athletics with campus stakeholders and projects benefitting from the new Board of Governors rule related to out-of-state student-athlete fee waivers while exploring scholarship opportunities for specific academic majors.
"We'll continue to be diligent in monitoring our expenditures for the remainder of the year and be strategic in developing ways to reduce spending," Sykes said.
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: FAMU Football: Rattlers new coach Colzie's contract approved by board
