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‘The Golden Era’: A championship standard has FAMU slithering atop HBCU sports’ pinnacle
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- ‘The Golden Era’: A championship standard has FAMU slithering atop HBCU sports’ pinnacle
Championships aren't just an expectation for Florida A&M's sports teams.
It's a standard.
The Rattlers have lived up to that standard since leaving the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference to begin a new FAMU athletics chapter in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 2021.
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FAMU answered the 'Who is SWAC?' question and encapsulated it with their performance by collecting seven of the league's championships in three seasons.
Volleyball (2021, 2022) leads FAMU with two SWAC titles. Tennis (2023), baseball (2023), women's cross country (2023), football (2023), and women's indoor track and field all have one SWAC championship apiece.
Additionally, during the 2023-2024 athletic year, FAMU made history by capturing multiple national championships for the first time in the same season.
FAMU football won the Black College title during last December's Celebration Bowl , and Rattlers golf won the HBCU National Championship at the PGA Works Collegiate Championship this May .
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"It's the golden era. And we're still going," said Jalen Goss , a FAMU graduate student and offensive lineman for the football team.
"We still have some more left. We ain't done yet. I want to say that our era was the best."
Women's cross country, coached by Garfield Ellenwood II , set the table for the 2023-2024 season by winning the program's first SWAC Championship . Ellenwood, who also coaches the Rattlers' track and field program, led the FAMU women's team to its first SWAC Indoor Championships victory in February .
"Now, the target is on us. It's our goal to set the tone again," said Ellenwood, hired by FAMU in Jan. 2023. "No one can put more pressure on us. My standard is always going to be to win and be the best. That's just what it is."
Florida A&M director of cross country and track and field head Garfield Ellenwood II poses on the track with the championship trophy.
FAMU's Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes' goal is for Rattler athletes to depart college with a degree and a championship ring in each hand.
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Sykes' plea for excellence has held up.
In April, FAMU gifted the football team its SWAC Championship rings, which ran for $450 per teamer. The Rattlers will receive their national championship rings in the coming months.
FAMU Athletics celebrated 43 graduates in May during the university's spring commencement.
"The success just continues to raise expectations. It says a lot about the program and what our AD Sykes is trying to do for us," said FAMU head football coach James Colzie III .
FAMU's champions of 2023-2024 could have quickly ballooned from three to eight.
After being two-time SWAC defending champions, FAMU volleyball fell to Jackson State in last November's title match.
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Tennis lost to Alabama State in the SWAC Championship in April while trying to defend its 2023 title.
In May, FAMU placed second place behind Alabama State in the women's SWAC Outdoor Championships. FAMU softball fell short of winning its first SWAC Championship against Jackson State. Baseball, the 2023 SWAC champions, had the league's best record but lost to the eventual 2024 champions, Grambling State, in the SWAC Tournament semifinals.
"Hopefully, when we do this again, we're with a couple more coaches," Colzie said.
FAMU coaches' diligence in program building places teams on SWAC, HBCU pedestal
Florida A&M men’s golf head coach Mike Rice poses on the driving range with the championship trophy.
FAMU golf, coached by Mike Rice , dominated May's PGA Works in Jacksonville to claim the program's second HBCU National Championship by finishing the week winning by 29 strokes with a score of +27, 891, and an 891 score in 54 holes.
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It was FAMU golf's first HBCU National Championship since 2000.
"We've been chasing this thing for 24 years and been close many times," Rice said, hired as FAMU golf's head coach in 2018. "We had a group of five guys that were really close. They love and play for each other. For them to quite frankly whup everybody's butt was special for sure."
Rice was FAMU's team captain and medaled for scoring a 208 in 54 holes in the 2000 championship match.
In 2013, Rice became an assistant coach at his alma mater, FAMU. Five years later, he got promoted to head coach Rattlers.
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As an alum and head coach, Rice had longed for FAMU to reach HBCU golf's mountaintop again.
"I'm fortunate that I was allowed to be the leader of this program. And I take it that way," Rice said. "I loved it when I played here and love what FAMU is about.
"I don't take it for granted."
The Rattlers' track and field program has a rich history, dating back to FAMU Sports Hall of Fame coach Bobby Lang and athletes such as 'Bullet' Bob Hayes , Pam Oliver , and Kevin Hicks , to name a few.
Ellenwood often considered the prestige of FAMU's competitive running program as he rebuilt it to a powerhouse during the 2023-2024 season.
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"We're just trying to change the culture," Ellenwood said.
"It's about getting athletes to believe and creating an environment where they can do it. You have to fight for everything to get what you want.
"We want to be that first HBCU to win a national championship."
Colzie was the assistant head coach when FAMU, led by former head coach Willie Simmons , beat Howard in last December's Celebration Bowl to claim the Rattlers' 17th Black College Football National Championship.
The Rattlers' title culminated five years of turnaround efforts of Simmons to restore FAMU football's triumphant tradition before leaving to coach Duke's running backs on Jan. 1.
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Colzie was hired on Jan. 27 to succeed Simmons as FAMU's 19th full-time head football coach.
Leading an NCAA Division I football program was something Colzie envisioned as he learned from Simmons during the 2022 and 2023 seasons at FAMU.
"We would take our walks in the morning and discuss the future," Colzie said, reflecting on his time assisting Simmons. "And little did he know, I was watching him from afar. He was doing many things that impressed me. I became the head coach primarily because I learned many things from him.
"It's a blessing to be in this position. Now it's about hopefully picking up where [Simmons] left off."
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A historic FAMU run towards national championships to forever live in Rattler lore
Florida A&M football players Jalen Goss (61) and James Ash (0) pose in the locker room with the trophies the team won during the 2023 season.
Experiencing college provides its students with a higher education and creates unforgettable memories.
Current Rattlers won't be forgotten, either.
This crop of FAMU athletes is permanently etched in FAMU's history books as the only multiple national championship season since the institution formed its athletic program in 1901 .
"It's a great thing anytime you're in the history books," said FAMU golfer Taylor Bell , a local product out of Chiles High School. "People have to put your name down, and later down the road, others will try to chase you and do the same thing you did."
Florida A&M men’s golf athlete Taylor Bell poses on the driving range with the championship trophy.
The recent success of FAMU's sports exemplifies the program's perseverance.
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Oftentimes, HBCU programs must navigate through fewer resources and budgets to operate.
However, FAMU's athletes don't view being a member of a limited resource program as a misfortune. It's a chance to display their 'Rattler Resilience' by showing they can still raise trophies regardless of the circumstances.
"It shows how far we've come," Goss said.
"We've all had to go through all the different trials and tribulations, and everybody's goal is to win championships. Winning a championship and your education is something nobody can ever take from you."
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Winning championships generates continued determination for FAMU to collect hardware
FAMU has experienced the highest of highs of winning championships in the last three years.
But there's still meat on the bone for the Rattlers to bring even more hardware to The Highest of Seven Hills.
FAMU's competitive running program looks to pull off a trifecta in winning SWAC titles in cross country, indoor, and outdoor track and field in the same season. The feat has only been done nine times in the league's 124-year history.
FAMU women's track finished second in the SWAC Outdoor Championships, losing by 10.3 points to Alabama State and falling short of pulling off the sweep to become the 10th team.
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"We should have won outdoors. It was a hard pill to swallow," Ellenwood said. "The motivator this year is to put our feet on their neck and not let it up."
Bell finished his freshman year helping FAMU golf claim its second HBCU National Championship crown. With three eligibility years left, the Rattler golfer looks to collect even more trophies and championship rings.
"We're going to try to do it again next year. Just got to keep doing what we're doing," Bell said.
Next month, FAMU opens a new season of chasing the SWAC and HBCU sports' glory.
The 2024-2025 athletic year begins with the defending Black College Football National Champions FAMU. The Rattlers kick off their season against the Norfolk State Spartans in Atlanta's MEAC/SWAC Challenge.
Florida A&M University head football coach James Colzie III poses in the locker room with the championship trophies.
Last season's championships has no bearing on the outcome of FAMU's 2024 football season.
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So, the Rattlers are reinvigorating themselves to repeat as Black College champs again when the HBCU football season culminates at the Celebration Bowl on Dec. 14.
"We have to understand that's last year. We're also trying to make sure we get some trophies for 2024," Colzie said.
Florida A&M championships since joining the SWAC in 2021
Florida A&M head football coach James Colzie III, left, director of cross country and track and field head Garfield Ellenwood II and men’s golf head coach Mike Rice pose with their respective championship trophies in the Lawson Center on Tuesday, July 2, 2024.
Volleyball: SWAC (2021, 2022) ― Head Coach: Gokhan Yilmaz
Tennis: SWAC (2023) ― Head Coach: Nikki Houston
Baseball: SWAC (2023) ― Head Coach: Jamey Shouppe
Women's Cross Country: SWAC (2023) ― Head Coach: Garfield Ellenwood II
Football: SWAC and Black College National (2023) ― Head Coach: Willie Simmons
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Women's Indoor Track and Field: SWAC (2024) ― Head Coach: Garfield Ellenwood II
Golf: HBCU National (2024) ― Head Coach: Mike Rice
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: How FAMU's sports teams won 7 SWAC and 2 national titles since 2021
