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FAMU's athletic facilities 'in decent shape' after Hurricane Helene, football awaiting clearance
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- FAMU's athletic facilities 'in decent shape' after Hurricane Helene, football awaiting clearance
Hurricane Helene has come and gone.
And from first glance, Florida A&M's athletic facilities "appear to be in decent shape" following the Category 4 storm, says Acting Athletic Director Michael Smith .
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However, FAMU will continue to assess damages under the school's Office of Facilities, Planning, Construction, and Safety's leadership.
"Our university athletic facilities team is doing their assessments in conjunction with the university's EOC team to determine if there are any damages," Smith told the Tallahassee Democrat. "Once that assessment is done, we'll be able to determine what the next steps are."
FAMU Interim Athletic Director Michael Smith speaks at 220 Quarterback Club
Across the railroad tracks, Florida State's athletic facilities appear intact, too.
On Thursday night, Helen arrived in the Big Bend with rain and wind that left thousands without power.
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"What we're most happy about is that as of right now, we don't have anybody that we know of that's injured," Smith said.
Of the Rattlers who marked themselves safe was head women's basketball coach Bridgette Gordon , who posted to X/Twitter that Helene didn't harm her team.
"FAMU WBB and Tally are safe," Gordon said on the post. "The Power of prayers! I'm a praying woman of FAITH."
FAMU football awaiting 'go ahead' to practice after game postponement
Hurricane Helene unexpectedly derailed FAMU football's week.
Soon after the Rattlers completed practice last Tuesday, FAMU athletics announced the postponement of the football team's anticipated Southwestern Athletic Conference home opener versus Alabama A&M.
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FAMU football and Alabama A&M game will make up their game on Friday, Nov. 29, at Bragg Memorial Stadium.
After Tuesday's announcement, FAMU head football coach James Colzie III gave his team the remainder of the week off. Once facility assessments are completed, Colzie will schedule practice.
"We're still talking about it. We probably won't practice until Monday morning. I'm still waiting for Mike Smith to give us to go ahead with everything," Colzie said.
"It's kind of premature to say when we are. But I just got to wait for everyone to give us the go-ahead."
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Some FAMU football players evacuated for Helene and will return to Tallahassee on Sunday.
"I know there's damage to other places where our team has traveled. We want to make sure everyone gets back safely," Colzie said.
Following an unplanned bye week, the Rattlers will travel to Montgomery to face the Alabama State Hornets for a Week 6 SWAC game next Saturday, Oct. 5.
It'll be FAMU's SWAC opener. Alabama State opens its SWAC schedule in Daytona Beach versus Bethune-Cookman this Saturday.
The Rattlers (2-2) are ranked 21st in the Football Championship Subdivision Coaches Poll. FAMU last played on Sept. 21, visiting the Troy Trojans and faltering 34-12 .
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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 AD, Rattlers football coach provide updates after Hurricane Helene
