Florida A&M looks to build its roster to help repeat as Black College Football National Champions. How? By loading the team with FBS talent through the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Gerald Thomas III
(Source Tallahassee Democrat):
“This is a reload, not a rebuild” is a mantra Florida A&M has lived by for the last four months.
As the defending Black College Football National Champions enter a new era under first-year head football coach James Colzie III, they plan to upkeep its success.
How?
Stacking talent ― from the Football Bowl Subdivision level, that is.
Since its program’s turnaround, FAMU, a Football Championship Subdivision program, has been a landing spot for players on the higher Division I level looking for new homes for a fresh start and more playing time.
The Rattlers have wholly taken advantage of the climate-shifting NCAA Transfer Portal by thoroughly building its roster, which has helped them earn their first FCS playoff bid in two decades in 2021 and prevail in the program’s first Celebration Bowl appearance last December.
An FBS-to-FAMU success story is current Dallas Cowboys safety Markquese Bell, who played at Maryland before spending 2019 to 2021 at FAMU. Originally a four-star wide receiver for the Terrapins, Bell repositioned to safety at Coffeyville Community College before joining the Rattlers.
Bell is now living his NFL dream and is likely in line to get a substantial contract following the 2024 season.
During last February’s signing day, the FAMU announced its signing class that included FBS transfers, headlined by former five-star defensive back Demorie Tate from Florida State.
Since then, the Rattlers have gotten commits from nine former FBS players, such as Under Armour All-American defensive lineman Clyde Pinder Jr., who played at North Carolina and South Florida.
Another name coming to FAMU that jumps out is former Michigan reserve linebacker Jerome Nichols, who was on the Wolverines’ national championship team that won last January.