The question of "Who is SWAC?" has arisen over the last year.
Well, we have an answer.
Florida A&M football is SWAC.
Willie Simmons is SWAC.
On Saturday, the Rattlers (11-1) claimed the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship in a 35-14 victory over Prairie View A&M Panthers (6-6) on Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium .
And it only took three years for the SWAC newbies FAMU to accrue superiority over the conference the program just joined in 2021 .
It's a nod and an embodiment of the Rattlers' adaptability after leaving a storied Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference legacy behind to embark on a new chapter in the SWAC.
Over the years, countless 'close but not enough' Rattler moments have occurred.
In the last two seasons, FAMU finished second in the SWAC East to eventual league champions Jackson State .
We can even take it back to the MEAC days.
FAMU neared winning the MEAC in 2018 before a late-season meltdown in the first year of the Simmons era.
Then, the 2019 Rattlers were the best team in the MEAC but were on a self-imposed postseason ban that prevented them from representing being named league champions to play in the HBCU Celebration Bowl .
The Dark Clouds have now cleared.
And at last, Simmons can call himself a conference championship-winning head coach at PVAMU's expense, which gave him his first head coaching job eight years ago.
I'd like to add that Simmons led the Panthers to three consecutive winning seasons during his tenure (2015-2017) after the program hadn't had a winning year since 2010.
"I didn't hold the trophy long," Simmons reflected on winning the SWAC Championship at Bragg on Saturday.
"The support from the administration and Rattler Nation, the coaching staff, support staff — this is everyone's championship. It's my first SWAC Championship as a head coach, but I'm the last one on that list of people that I'm excited about that happening.
"I'm so thankful for what we've accomplished together over the last six years."
The Rattlers aren't done yet.
There's more football left to play.
FAMU is about to travel to the Peach State to make its first Celebration Bowl appearance.
The Rattlers will meet MEAC winners Howard Bison on Dec. 16 at the Atlanta Falcons' Mercedes-Benz Stadium to determine the Black College Football National Champion.
And while Simmons is credited for a mythical HBCU National Championship, winning the Celebration Bowl would etch the 2023 FAMU Rattlers in Black College Football lure as only the second SWAC team ( Grambling State, 2016 ) to win the game.
"That's the last box to check," Simmons said of the Celebration Bowl.
"In our first team meeting in August, I saw the vision that we had a chance to be one of the best football teams ever played at FAMU. And now we have a chance to be mentioned with the 1978 and 1998 teams ― the teams we honored when we first got here. The one common denominator between those teams is that they finished it.
"So, we got to make sure we take care of business and let the fans talk about where this team ranks in the all-time lure of FAMU football."
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: No. 5 Rattlers, Coach Simmons is "SWAC" | G. Thomas
