If you are in a leadership position at Florida A&M, it is important for job seekers to get to know the people who will be critical to your success.
And sometimes all you have to do is go to your backyard to accomplish that.
For example, first-year Rattlers head football coach James Colsey III is in his hometown of Miami to attend the FAMU Alumni Association South Dade Chapter's “Game Plan with Coach Colsey” event on Wednesday.
“It's a chance to get out in front of the FAMU fans again,” Colzi said. “It's the first time I've been able to do it, and it's the first time I've had a chance to do it at home. My family will be there. The fans will be there, too.
“It made a lot of sense for me to make this in the first place when I was asked to do it.”
Colzi was hired as FAMU's 19th full-time head football coach on January 27, replacing Willie Simmons, who resigned as running backs coach at Duke. Colzi signed a three-year contract worth $720,000.
Since then, he has overseen the Rattlers' spring football season, which concluded with the Orange & Green Spring Game on April 13. Colzie is now in full recruiting mode as the NCAA transfer portal reopened for a limited time from April 15th to April 30th.
Colzi will provide updates on the FAMU football program and aim to collect donations from the South Dade Rattlers.
“They want to know what's going on before anyone else. They see me on social media and on the news, but when I'm in front of them, it might mean a little more.” Hmm,” Colzi said of the upcoming event.
“We’re here to support the program, hopefully raise some big donations, talk about Florida A&M football and give them all the insight they need.
“They said it starts at a certain time, but it doesn't necessarily end at a certain time,” Colzi joked. “So I'm definitely going to get there and answer all the questions and tell them everything they want to know except who the starting quarterback is going to be.”
Providing access to FAMU officials is something Colzie is prepared to do.
The FAMU athletic program is currently in the process of arranging dates and locations for the annual Strike Tour. The Strike Tour raised about $250,000 for Rattler's athletics fund last summer.
Colzie and FAMU Athletics currently have trips scheduled to Atlanta, Birmingham, Jacksonville, Miami, Washington, D.C., and are also looking to expand into Dallas and Houston.
“This is part of the job and honor of being the head football coach at Florida A&M,” Colsey said.
“We want to embrace our alumni and fans because without them there would be no head football coach at FAMU. We want to play in front of as many people as possible, raise as much money as possible for our players and hopefully do the right thing.” I want to be ready to defend my national championship in a way that will help me.
“So any time I have the opportunity to stand in front of fans and alumni, I think it’s a huge blessing.”
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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