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Florida A&M needs a new athletic director. Who should the university pursue?
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- Florida A&M needs a new athletic director. Who should the university pursue?
Florida A&M's athletic director role is open.
On Tuesday, Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes told her athletics staff that she was no longer employed at FAMU , effective immediately. Sykes' departure followed FAMU interim president Dr. Timothy Beard calling for the university's senior leadership staff to resign .
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Sykes spent 20 months at FAMU, starting in January 2023, before departing on Tuesday. She's been FAMU's 10th athletic director, interim and permanent, since 2009.
Her departure comes less than two weeks before FAMU's first football game against Norfolk State in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge , which will be played on Aug. 24 at Atlanta's Center Parc Stadium.
Who should replace the departed Sykes to lead FAMU athletics?
Let's weigh the options.
Author's Note: The names listed are based purely on prediction. None of these names formally or publicly expressed interest in FAMU's athletic director vacancy to the Tallahassee Democrat.
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Marvin Green Jr. ― FAMU Sports Hall of Fame Committee Chairman
Marvin Green Jr. has put in work at FAMU.
A FAMU graduate from the School of Business and Industry, Green turned a golfing hobby into becoming the Rattlers' golf coach in 2001.
Green's coaching career landed him a spot in the African American Golfers Hall of Fame after building FAMU golf to a perennial HBCU powerhouse. He's also a FAMU Sports Hall of Famer, having served for over two decades at the university.
As FAMU athletics was on the brink of suspending its golf operations to save money in 2014, Green raised $30,000 to keep the program afloat.
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Green has served in various roles at FAMU, currently working as the FAMU Sports Hall of Fame's Committee Chairman.
Green has also worked in FAMU Athletics as the Associate Director for Sports Administration on former athletic director Milton Overton's staff. Outside FAMU, Green was the Florida Sports Foundation's Vice President for Amateur Sports .
Michael Smith ― FAMU Assistant Vice President for Athletics Administration
FAMU Interim Athletic Director Michael Smith speaks at 220 Quarterback Club
Michael Smith is typically called upon to lead FAMU's athletic program when the university searches for the next person to take over the job permanently.
Smith, now FAMU's Assistant Vice President for Athletics Administration, has served in the school's interim athletics director role three times, according to a 2022 press release by FAMU athletics .
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Smith is a former FAMU football player who graduated with an accounting degree in 1985.
Spending over 25 years at FAMU, Smith has also served as the school's Associate Director of Athletics for Internal Operations, Director of Business and Auxiliary Services, Title IX chairperson, an Auditor with FAMU's Inspector General's Office, and the business manager for the Division of Student Affairs.
If he wants to take over FAMU athletics full-time, the university should look at Smith.
Angela Suggs ― Florida Sports Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer
Florida Sports Foundation President and CEO Angela Suggs.
Angela Suggs is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Florida Sports Foundation.
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Her current role includes advocating for Florida's sports industry, generating over $70 billion in economic impact annually, assisting communities with securing, hosting, and retaining sporting events and sports-related business through the Florida Sports Foundation's grant programs, providing participation opportunities in the Sunshine State Games and Florida Senior Games, and assist national and state governing bodies to promote amateur sport development.
Before joining the Florida Sports Foundation in 2017, Suggs served as FAMU's Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs and Senior Woman Administrator, among other roles during her tenure.
Suggs is from Tallahassee and earned her bachelor's degree in economics at FAMU before getting her master's at St. Thomas University.
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 athletic director vacancy: Who should get the job?
