Seventy-eight days ago, James Colzie III received the call to his next challenge in football coaching.
On January 27, Colzi was named the 19th full-time head coach to oversee the reigning Black College Football National Champions at Florida A&M.
Seventy-eight days later, Colzi got his first experience coaching Rattlers football, coaching spring training, which culminated in last Saturday's Orange and Green Spring Game.
Asked after the spring game if coaching FAMU football was his dream job, Colzi told the media, “Pretty high up there.”
“This is one of the top jobs in the country, and I love coming to work every day. The expectation is to win and make sure the product is great on the field. We graduate our players and make sure they are representing the university properly at all times.
“People ask me how long I'll be here. It depends on how long FAMU wants to keep me here.”
Colzie originally arrived at FAMU in 2022 as a cornerbacks coach as part of former Rattlers head coach Willie Simmons' staff. Colzi became the Rattlers' assistant head coach in 2023.
Colzi, a Miami native and former Florida State Seminoles star, will lead the cornerbacks while building a unit that will help FAMU's “Dark Cloud Defense” near the top of the Football Championship Division's statistical rankings. contributed to.
Previously accenting FAMU's success with a 21-3 record as an assistant, Colzi's promotion to head rattler added another element to his coaching and leadership style.
“He’s a very, very, very good head coach,” FAMU cornerback and 2023 Boxtrow All-American Kendall Boler said of Colzie.
“He's more demanding because it's not just five or six players but the whole team. Be on time for meetings and training. If you're late, it's your fault.
“He doesn't play without thinking.”
Colzi signed a three-year contract worth $720,000 to coach the FAMU football team.
This is his second head coaching position, having previously held the same position at St. Mary's University in Nova Scotia from 2016 to 2021. In 2017 and 2018, Colsey coached the Huskies to two appearances in the Ronnie Bowl, the game that determines the champion of Atlantic collegiate sports.
“Kendall Bohler is right. As a head coach, I'm a little different than a DB coach. I think it's because of my current salary level,” Colsey joked.
“I'm learning a lot from my experience as a first-time head coach. I'm asking our coordinators even more to support them as we head into spring practice. As a head coach, talking to the players is , which is much different than talking to players as a defensive backs coach.
“At the end of the day, it’s on my shoulders how the practice and the results end.”
FAMU football is “moving in the right direction” under the leadership of James Colsey III
Colzi wanted to be FAMU's next head coach and had a support system to lobby for the job.
The echoing voice was that of Rattlers running back Kelvin Dean Jr., the 2023 Celebration Bowl Offensive Player of the Year. Dean served on the eight-person search committee that recommended Colsey for the job.
Nearly three months later, Dean feels FAMU is on track to repeat as Black college football national champions in Colzi's first year on the job.
“He has complete command. Everyone pays attention to the details, the little details he wants,” Dean said of the coach. “On campus, in terms of food, and in supporting our players. You can see that we're moving in the right direction. I think it's going to get really good in the near future and it's going to happen soon.”
Colzie had an active weekend leading up to the spring game.
FAMU received a ring Friday for winning the program's first Southwestern Athletic Conference football championship last December.On Saturday, Colzi woke up early to host “Kolji and coffee” Along with legendary Rattlers coach Rudy Hubbard, who coached the team to its first NCAA Division I-AA (now FCS) National Championship in 1978.
Colzi, FAMU's first-year head coach, did all of that while balancing official visits and preparing for his first spring game.
“That's part of it. Cameras are following you and doing these kinds of interviews. That comes with the position. Guys, did you see my parking lot? I just like being there,” Colzi said of the early stages of his tenure as FAMU head coach.
“The pressure isn't just on the quarterback or the defense. The pressure is on me too. What keeps me motivated? I understand this is a high-profile job. You can see how much support we have from the university by looking at the rings we received.”
Colzi will coach his first game as FAMU's head coach in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, an NCAA Division I HBCU conference matchup, when the Rattlers take on the Norfolk State Spartans on Aug. 24 in Atlanta. .
He knows his first FAMU team will have the best shot of all teams in 12 regular season games.
“If you're a champion, you wake up every day the same way. The only thing keeping us from being champions is us. We have to be able to put it together,” Colzi said.
“It's a great job, great players, great people around me every day, and it's a great opportunity to be the 19th head football coach here at Florida A&M.”
Gerald Thomas III covers Florida A&M University athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Reach him by email at gdthomas@tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as his Twitter. @3peatgee.
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