Against the Grain II
By Vaughn Wilson
When you talk about FAMU football, the first thought is Jake Gaither. It’s completely understandable. The man won 23-of-25 SIAC titles while he was leading the Rattlers. He also sent the most players to the NFL of any FAMU head coach.
Before Gaither arrived, William “Bill” Bell won the Rattlers’ first national championship in 1938. Bell would win another national title in 1942. After that Gaither would take the reigns and have the most successful stint in FAMU football history.
FAMU struggled after Gaither’s retirement with a carousel of coaches. It was a tall order to fill. Gaither was friends with legendary Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes and that relationship yielded FAMU’s youngest coach to date in Rudolph Lanier “Rudy” Hubbard.
The charismatic and energetic coach was selected as FAMU’s head coach in 1974 to bring back the glory of the Rattlers on the gridiron, and that he did. He brought in a big college concept including the training table for football, enhanced weight room facilities and an unusual snap to practice that kept the players engaged. A young and handsome young man, he was the perfect ambassador for Rattler football.
He struggled out of the gate in 1974, but by 1975 he began to hit stride and show the possibilities of his program. He would tie for second in the SIAC in 1976, but a defining loss to Bethune-Cookman at the end of the season left a bad taste in the mouths of the rising Rattlers.
Defensive captain Joe Yates once said they felt so bad after losing to B-CC (B-CU) they worked extra hard to ensure that it would not happen again. Hubbard’s team responded with an unblemished 11-0 campaign in 1977 and Rattlermania was at infectious levels.
In 1978, the greatest feat of an HBCU in modern times would occur. Many HBCUs went from Division II to Division-I, reclassified in the category of I-AA. FAMU was not initially granted access but would attain the status after challenging the NCAA. Hubbard was pushing for the Rattlers to compete in the second highest NCAA level.
He would continue through 1978 with the country’s longest Division-I winning streak. It would come to a halt with a highly controversial call that would lead to the Rattlers’ first defeat in a year-and-a-half. October 21, 1978 is a day etched in Hubbard’s mind. A phantom holding call allowed Tennessee State and quarterback Joe “747” Adams to best Albert Chester and the Rattlers for their only loss of the season.
The Rattlers would go on to make the I-AA playoffs. In the first round they would seek out a win over the Jackson State Tigers. In the Pioneer Bowl in Wichita Falls, Texas the Rattlers would take down the University of Massachusets to win the inaugural NCAA I-AA national championship (now FCS). Hubbard led the first HBCU to that title and 45 years later, it has yet to be repeated.
In 1979, for an encore, the Rattlers defeated the University of Miami Hurricanes 16-13 at Doak Campbell Stadium. Howard Schnellenberger was in disbelief after the game. Several people close to the situation said Schnellenberger went home and studied FAMU’s roster after the loss. He realized that Hubbard had gone into his back yard of Miami and took out exceptional players that his current team could not compete with. It forced the University of Miami to change its recruiting philosophy, which led to an unprecedented dynasty in the years following.
Somehow, it appears that Hubbard’s accomplishments get lost in the shuffle. He won 83 games as FAMU’s head coach. He follows only Gaither’s 204-36-4 and Billy Joe’s 86-46.
Even though the back-to-back Black national championships and NCAA I-AA (FCS) championship are mentioned, it often seems like other schools would revere a coach with those credentials more than he has been at FAMU. On the FAMU campus, there needs to be some respect put on Rudy Hubbard’s name.
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