The symbolic darkish cloud that had forged a menacing and grim shadow over the Florida A&M soccer program in current weeks diminished on Monday when James Colzie III formally took the reins as new Rattlers coach.
FAMU President Larry Robinson playfully urged a brand new moniker for the Florida A&M offense to go with the “Darkish Cloud” nickname its protection has carried.
“Thunder and lightning,” mentioned a smiling Robinson in remarks through the introductory press convention for Colzie held at Bragg Memorial Stadium.
Tiffani-Daybreak Skyes, the embattled athletic director who had been underneath hearth by the college’s affinity teams and alumni for the way in which wherein she dealt with the seek for Willie Simmons’ substitute, beamed with pleasure as she highlighted the management Colzie applied as interim head coach together with the years of 30 years teaching chops that justified him being elevated within the pecking order.
“I’m comfortable to say that we discovered somebody who checked each a type of bins,” mentioned Sykes.
Colzie has labored in soccer for over 20 years and has been a part of three nationwide championship groups. He was a cornerback on Florida State’s first nationwide championship crew in 1993.
Colzie was beforehand head coach at Saint Mary’s College in Canada, the place he went 23-19.
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When it was his flip to handle all the scholars, alums, and boosters, Colzie affirmed that the connection between himself and Sykes — regardless of reportedly not being her first selection as coach — was on good phrases.
“I name her boss. I name her AD Sykes. I name her Miss. Tiffani,” he mentioned. “I’m hoping to name her a pal for fairly a while. She’s performed a tremendous job. She’s been extraordinarily clear with me all through this complete course of, and I can solely assist however say I recognize that.”
Monday marked the end result of an arduous and eventful month for FAMU soccer, which actually couldn’t take pleasure in its Celebration Bowl championship after Simmons took a proposal to be an assistant coach at Duke on Jan. 1 earlier than a tumultuous 27-day coach search that ended with Colzie from amongst a pool of 45 candidates.
Though Colzie received’t inherit the identical forged that received an HBCU nationwide championship, the expectation for this system, he says, stays unchanged.
“My purpose is that yearly we beat that different crew (Bethune-Cookman) in Daytona Seashore, win the SWAC championship, and play within the Celebration Bowl,” he mentioned. “That’s the purpose, which signifies that’s the expectation.”
Colzie, like all new coach, desires to ascertain no matter his model of tradition is inside the confines of the soccer program. However Colzie admitted that his first order of enterprise is to fortify the roster on the recruiting path. With Nationwide Signing Day only a few weeks in the past, there could also be no extra essential job.
Colzie indicated that “one or two guys” entered the switch portal after Simmons left for Duke, which is seemingly not as damaging because it might have been within the period of unabated participant motion.
“Our first precedence is ensuring we signal a profitable (recruiting) class on February 7,” he mentioned. “Now we have wants, and we’re going to tackle them.”
