After a lackluster ending to the 2018 football season, Florida A&M head coach Willie Simmons has made moves to improve. Following a 5-2 conference and 6-5 overall record, Simmons and the FAMU coaching staff believe they have strengthened their roster by signing new talent.
At the 2019 FAMU Football National Signing Day, alumni, media and students were all in attendance for the unveiling of FAMU’s newest recruits.
The coaching staff this year made it a mission to not only try to recruit throughout Florida and Atlanta, but to also recruit athletes not based on merely physical ability, but also as students and pillars of their communities.
FAMU’s recruitment team taking a different approach and focus this recruiting cycle was evident as Simmons detailed talking to parents, teachers and people in their communities so that he and the staff could learn about their potential recruits.
“This year we were able to get out on the road in May and identify a lot of these guys early,” Simmons said. “We were able to get a lot of these guys here in the summer…I think the biggest difference between last year and this year is that we were able to actually get to know a lot more about the student-athletes.”
The Rattlers also were able to recruit a few highly sought-after recruits who due to injury late in their high school careers were not recruited to some otherwise high-level programs. For example, one out of the four Tallahassee recruits in TE Kamari Young, a 6’3 203-pound force out of Godby High School. Young, despite possibly missing out of a few offers due to a late ACL injury in his high school career, still felt FAMU was the choice for him because of their commitment to him and his talent.
“We feel like we added 19 guys that are really going to make this team a lot better, that is really gonna make this team bigger faster, stronger. That’s gonna raise the academic profile of our football team and the character, which was critical in the evaluation process,” said Simmons.
This year, despite Duval County not being their priority, FAMU did happen to sign six players from Jacksonville, FL. including QB Cameron Sapp from Lee High School. Sapp was a sought-after prospect and has several outstanding career wins, including a win against the defending state champions Raines High School.
“Every position is about competition. Our job as coaches is to develop them all and play the best guys, guys who are gonna give us the best chance to win… I have no idea who that guy is gonna be Feb. 6, “ said Simmons.
With two year starting QB Ryan Stanley coming back next year for his senior year and the promise within Sapp, next year's battle for the starting QB spot will be an intense competition. FAMU showed promise in Simmons first year, and with these added recruits plus the upperclassmen returning next season, the Rattlers are looking to make some noise in the MEAC as a true contender for the championship.
NAME |
POS |
HT. |
WT. |
HOMETOWN/LAST SCHOOL |
|
Cameron Sapp |
QB |
6-3 |
190 |
Jacksonville, Fl/Lee HS |
|
Terrell Jennings |
RB |
6-1 |
216 |
Jacksonville, Fl/Mandarin |
|
Angelo Gonzales |
WR |
6-3 |
185 |
Miami, Fl/Coffeyville CC(KS) |
|
Chris Sanders |
WR |
5-10 |
175 |
Jacksonville, Fl/The Bolles School |
|
Donovon Mobley |
WR |
6-1 |
175 |
Tallahassee,Fl/Leon |
|
Kamari Young |
TE |
6-3 |
230 |
Tallahassee, FL/Godby |
|
Kaloeb Parker |
TE |
6-5 |
215 |
Jacksonville, Fl/Sandalwood |
|
Tevin Rayford |
OT |
6-5 |
250 |
Thomasville,GA/Thomasville HS |
|
Khamari Thomspon |
OT |
6-4 |
265 |
Hampton, GA/Dutchtown |
|
Jalen Spady |
OG |
6-3 |
325 |
El Paso, TX/Glendale CC(AZ) |
|
Jolan Gilley |
DT |
6-2 |
265 |
Tallahassee, Fl/Florida High |
|
Kamari Stephens |
DT |
6-2 |
290 |
Jacksonville, Fl/Sandalwood |
|
Anthony “Ant” Daniels |
DT |
6-1 |
250 |
Brooks County,GA/Brooks Co. |
|
Omari Fiffer |
LB |
6-0 |
197 |
Jacksonville, Fl/Ed White |
|
Moezies Telfort |
LB |
6-2 |
225 |
Ft Lauderdale, Fl/ University HS |
|
Cortez Reid |
DB |
6-2 |
183 |
Rockledge, Fl/Viera |
|
Javon Morgan |
DB |
5-11 |
180 |
Tallahassee, Fl/Florida High |
|
Markques Ebell |
DB |
6-3 |
194 |
Bridgeton, NJ/Coffeyville CC (KS) |
|
Jahsimeon Campblin |
DB |
6-0 |
175 |
Orlando, Fl/Edgewater |