BREAKING: Willie Simmons Resigns From Florida A&M, Accepts Position At Duke

Florida A&M's head football coach will accept the role as running backs coach at Duke University.

HOUSTON - Former Florida A&M head coach, Willie Simmons, will accept Duke University’s offer to become the running backs coach under head coach Manny Diaz, according to Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports. 

Simmons told Vaugh Wilson of HBCU GameDay:

"I have full confidence in myself and my abilities, you know, but again, everything in life is about decision, the tough decisions that have to be made. And for me, you know, I rolled the dice to make this move and it's again, it's because of who is with I have the utmost respect for Manny Diaz and what he stands for who he is as a man. 

As a person as a coach, I've been around him I've seen how he interacts with his players. I know what type of program he wants to run. And that's what's enticing to me to learn from a guy like that and be in that type of environment at a school with a rigorous academic component to it, and just continue to elevate my career. 

And so all those things went into the deciding factor to make this move. Again, it wasn't an easy one. And again, it's been the hardest decision I've ever had to make in my coaching career. But with much prayer, you know, my wife and I, you know, we felt that we, one has to have done what we said we were going to do here family and to the good Lord opened that door for us. So to allow us to walk through it, and we're gonna walk through boldly and we're gonna set that new challenge."  - Willie Simmons

Florida A&M made a counteroffer to Simmons, and the FAMU Alumni Association raised over $100K in funds to support the assistant coaches, as reported by Steven Gaither at HBCU GameDay.

Florida A&M Press Release:

Simmons, 43, coached the Florida A&M Rattlers to win the 2023 Cricket Celebration Bowl and the 2023 Division I HBCU Football Championship. He posted a record of 66-24 as a head coach with Florida A&M and Prairie View A&M since the 2015 football season. During his tenure at FAMU, his team registered a 45-13 and 22-2 SWAC record since 2021.

Credit: USA Today Sports, HBCU Legends

Simmons leaves Tallahassee to become an FBS Division I assistant coach with the ultimate goal of leading an FBS DI football program. Should the Duke program improve under Manny Diaz, his offensive genius will be highly sought after by other programs in the future. 

Diaz hired Jonathan Brewer to become the Blue Devil's offensive coordinator after working with him at the University of Miami.

Nina King is the Vice President and Director of Athletics at Duke University.  She's the third black woman to lead an athletic department at a Power 5 conference since accepting the position in September 2021.  King is also a Floridian finishing for Notre Dame and receiving her law degree from Tulane University.

Florida A&M Crowned HBCU Football National Champions, Defeating Howard in 2023 Celebration Bowl