Florida A&M University head football coach Willie Simmons is reportedly being targeted by power five ACC program, the Duke Blue Devils.
Simmons, who just led the Rattlers to their first Black College National Championship in over two decades, is approaching the final two years of his contract as head coach of the FAMU football team.
Source confirms Duke is pursuing Florida A&M coach Willie Simmons for its running backs job, as @mzenitz reported earlier. FAMU obviously wants to keep Simmons in place, especially after a 12-1 season. A decision is expected by the end of the weekend.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) December 29, 2023
In just four seasons, the Tallahassee-native secured 45 victories, including an FCS playoff berth, a Southwestern Athletic Conference title, and an HBCU national trophy. However, over the last couple of days multiple sources claim Simmons received an offer this week to coach at Duke.
“At some point, it’s not about X’s and O’s,” FAMU’s former sports information director Vaughn Wilson said on Friday during his sports podcast, HBCU Gameday. “He’s got to think about his family. How do you keep telling your wife I’m going to stay at FAMU because we love FAMU, when you could be making so much money elsewhere and providing a legacy for your family.”
It’s been reported that Duke’s newly hired head coach Manny Diaz is looking to potentially add Coach Simmons to his staff as a running backs coach next season. That would mean Simmons would not be the one calling the shots as he’s done in the past.
Why Duke?
Before FAMU, Simmons coached in Texas for three years at Prairie View A&M after serving as offensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State. Both Simmons and Diaz both worked on the same staff at Middle Tennessee from 2007 to 2009.
Besides their history on the field, many fans and reporters suspect money may be the deciding factor. This season, Duke’s head coach pocketed over $3 million and still has enough funds to recruit even bigger names to Durham.
But time is not completely out for FAMU
As of Friday, neither Duke nor FAMU has made their final offer. However, HBCU Gameday’s Wilson says the Rattlers window to secure a long-term deal with Simmons is steadily running out.
“In my mind, midseason FAMU should’ve been engaging Willie Simmons because we’ve seen this before. It’s not uncommon that a successful HBCU coach or FCS coach, will be targeted by FBS schools.”
While both Simmons and the university’s front office have kept things under wraps about any contract negotiations, it is important to note that the last major deal between both parties came back in 2018 when Simmons agreed to a yearly $300,000 paycheck with over $52,000 in bonus incentives.
Now it seems, whoever wants a shot at the reigning FCS Coach of the Yearwill need to either top or at least match FAMU’s previous deal.
Simmons’ current contract is set to expire in 2025.