Let Florida A&M coach hear only ‘thanks, congrats and best wishes’ as he leaves HBCUs
OPINION: Willie Simmons' decision to leave FAMU to take the running backs coach position at Duke doesn't mean he's a sellout. With all that he has achieved, he's earned the right to pursue his dream of being an FBS/Power 5 head football coach.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Here we go again, for the umpteenth time.
A young, gifted and talented Black professional has left one of our own institutions to work at a predominantly white one. The big story last year was Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders relocating from Jackson State to Colorado. Florida A&M experienced a similar loss on Monday when head football coach Willie Simmons resigned to join the staff at Duke.
Simmons enjoyed tremendous success in his six years at FAMU, where he posted a 45-13 record that was capped this season with the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship and the HBCU national title via a Celebration Bowl victory. He proved himself previously by going 21-11 during three years at Prairie View A&M. Clearly among the nation’s best young coaches, he could’ve run the FAMU program for decades and seen his statue erected, becoming a legendary lifer like Grambling State’s Eddie Robinson (56 years) and FAMU’s Jake Gaither (25 years).
Instead, the 43-year-old Simmons stepped down to become an assistant — not the offensive coordinator at Duke, but the running backs coach.
Cue the moaning.
Some critics said the job offer was an insult that devalues HBCUs and proves our schools are less than. Others blamed FAMU for not moving quicker to increase Simmons’ pay — the school’s national alumni association raised more than $138,000 to aid the cause — and entice him to stay. Yet another chorus suggested there’s a character flaw within coaches who leave HBCUs for six-figure raises from PWIs.
How can I put this gently?
They all tripping.
The white man’s ice isn’t colder but there’s a helluva lot more. It also comes in assorted colors and different shapes: cubes, crushed and fancy-ass sculptures with perks.
Aspiring to work at one of those factories doesn’t mean you think less of your own (unless you harbor an inferiority complex). Simmons and FAMU were atop HBCU football this season, unequivocally lofty. But it’s plainly a different level than Power 5 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
They’re not the same thing. But they’re equally cold.
Simmons has checked every box thus far in his 18-year coaching career, and he wants to check some in the NCAA’s top division. There’s nothing wrong with his goal, even if he deserves better than starting out as a position coach.
“Coach Simmons has been transparent about his aspirations to become a Power 5 head football coach,” FAMU athletic director Tiffani-Dawn B. Sykes said Monday in a statement. “I am thrilled that he has been offered an opportunity to take a significant step toward achieving that goal.”
At the very least in an equitable society, Simmons easily would’ve transitioned from head coach at FAMU to offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach at an FBS school. Another Black coach, Jerry Mack, went that route in 2017 after four seasons at North Carolina Central’s helm, leaving to become the offensive coordinator at Rice, a lower-level FBS school.
“This was a pivotal step for me to take, and that’s why we’re taking it,” Simmons said in an interview with HBCU Gameday. “We have to position ourselves to do those things. I would love to think it could happen at FAMU. The reality of it is – it just hasn’t.”
HBCUs
One commentator said Simmons should stay another few years in hopes of landing his dream job. That might’ve been easier without so much money on the table, without a wife and six children. When you’re talking about someone else’s pockets, it’s easier to equate being paid with being disloyal.
But even if the money was the same, the SWAC ain’t the ACC. No shade and no shame.
Simmons now is that much closer to being an FBS/Power 5 head coach, but miss me with warped logic that he sold out. He and his wife, Shaia, are native Floridians and she’s a two-time FAMU graduate. “We were Rattlers long before I became the Head Football Coach,” Simmons said in a statement. “And no matter where my career takes us, we are FOREVER Rattlers. Thank you again FAMULY for everything. We LOVE YOU and continue Striking from the top!”
Relationships matter, too, and Simmons has chosen to work under new Duke coach Manny Diaz. The two previously worked together as assistants at Middle Tennessee State and Simmons once hired Diaz’s son at FAMU. It’s not right, but Simmons instantly becomes a stronger candidate for bigger jobs in the near future.
He served FAMU with class and grace for six years, restoring a proud program that was suffering tough times. Before Simmons arrived, the Rattlers hadn’t posted a winning record or won more than four games in a season since 2011. With him, they’ve averaged nine wins per season and never had a losing record.
When news broke that Duke made an offer he was considering, Simmons posted a list of his accomplishments with the Obama drop-the-mic GIF. He’s proud of his tenure — including the team’s academic progress — and any bragging is well-earned. The last bullet point addressed a rumored factor in his decision: “NO pending postseason ban!!!”
Instead of questioning and criticizing Simmons’ choice, fearing what it says about HBCUs (and Black institutions, in general), there’s only one appropriate response to his move:
Thank you, congrats and best wishes.
Unfortunately, that’s asking too much for some ignorant folks.
Deron Snyder, from Brooklyn, is an award-winning columnist who lives near D.C. and pledged Alpha at HU-You Know! He’s reaching high, lying low, moving on, pushing off, keeping up, and throwing down. Got it? Get more at blackdoorventures.com/deron.
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