The Florida A&M Rattlers represent Florida A&M University (FAMU) in college athletics. Florida A&M is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and participates in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). FAMU offers men's sports in baseball, basketball, football, golf, swimming, tennis and track and field. It offers women's sports in basketball, bowling, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field and volleyball.
The Florida A&M Rattlers football team represents Florida A&M University in the sport of American football. The Rattlers compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Starting with the fall 2021 season, the Rattlers will compete in the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), after a long tenure in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). They play their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee. The Rattlers have won 15 black college football national championship, 29 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) titles, eight MEAC titles, one SWAC title and one I-AA national title in the history of their football program. During the 2004 season, the Rattlers briefly attempted to move up to Division I-A and become the only HBCU at college football's highest level, but the team was forced to abort its bid.
Rudy Hubbard is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Florida A&M University (FAMU) in Tallahassee, Florida from 1974 to 1985, compiling a record of 83–48–3. Hubbard led the Florida A&M Rattlers to the inaugural NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship, in 1978, and consecutive black college football national championships, in 1977 and 1978. Hubbard played college football at Ohio State University, lettering from 1965 to 1967. Following his graduation from Ohio State in 1968, he remained with the Buckeyes for six seasons as an assistant coach under Woody Hayes. In 2008, Hubbard returned to coaching the high school level, serving as head football coach at James S. Rickards High School in Tallahassee for four seasons.
The 2011 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rattlers were led by fourth year head coach Joe Taylor and played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium. They are a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They finished the season 7–4, 5–3 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for fourth place.
The 2012 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rattlers were led by fifth year head coach Joe Taylor and played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium. They finished the season 4–7 overall and 4–4 in MEAC play to tie for sixth place.
The 2013 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rattlers were led by new head coach Earl Holmes and played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
The 2014 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented as the Florida A&M University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rattlers were led by their second year head coach Earl Holmes for the first eight games. In mid-season, he was fired. Holmes was replaced by Corey Fuller for the remainder of the season. They played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium. They were the members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They finished the season with a disappointing 3–9 record and a 3–5 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for seventh place which and did not qualify for post-season play.
The 2014–15 Florida A&M Rattlers basketball team represented Florida A&M University during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rattlers, led by first year head coach Byron Samuels, played their home games at the Teaching Gym and were members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They finished the season 2–27, 2–14 in MEAC play to finish in last place. Due to failing to meet APR requirements, the Rattlers were banned from postseason play including the MEAC tournament.
Willie Simmons is the head coach of the Florida A&M Rattlers football team. Simmons was previously the head coach at Prairie View A&M from 2014 to 2017. He has also served as offensive coordinator of the Alcorn State Braves as well as the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders football teams. Simmons played college football at Clemson and The Citadel as a quarterback.
The 2015–16 Florida A&M Rattlers basketball team represented Florida A&M University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rattlers, led by second year head coach Byron Samuels, played their home games at the Teaching Gym and were members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Rattlers finished the season 8–21, 4–12 in MEAC play to finish in last place. Due to failing to meet APR requirements, the Rattlers were banned from postseason play including the MEAC tournament.
The 2016 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rattlers were led by second-year head coach Alex Wood. They played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). They finished the season 4–7, 4–4 in MEAC play to finish in a two way tie for fifth place.
The 2016–17 Florida A&M Rattlers men's basketball team represented Florida A&M University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rattlers, led by third-year head coach Byron Samuels, played their home games at the Teaching Gym as members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They finished the season 7–23, 5–11 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for 11th place. They lost in the first round of the MEAC tournament to South Carolina State.
The 2017 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rattlers were led by third-year head coach Alex Wood. They played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). They finished the season 3–8, 2–6 in MEAC play to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place.
The 2018 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rattlers were led by first-year head coach Willie Simmons. They played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They finished the season 6–5, 5–2 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for second place.
The 2018–19 Florida A&M Rattlers basketball team represented Florida A&M University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They played their home games at the Teaching Gym in Tallahassee, Florida, and were led by second year head coach Robert McCullum as members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Florida A&M is ineligible for postseason play due to failure to meet the APR multi-year threshold. They finished the season 12–19 overall, 9–7 in MEAC play, finishing in a tie for fifth place.
The 1978 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University in the 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Rattlers had an overall record of 12–1 and were the Division I-AA national champions.
The 2019 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University as member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rattlers were led by second-year head coach Willie Simmons and played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium. Florida A&M finished the year 9–2 overall and 7–1 in MEAC play to post with the best record in the MEAC and across all HBCU schools. However, in May 2019, Florida A&M had been banned from 2019 postseason play, so could not compete in the Celebration Bowl or for a MEAC championship.
The 2010 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) during the 2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rattlers were led by third-year head coach Joe Taylor and played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium. They finished the season 8–3 overall and 8–1 in conference play to share the MEAC title with Bethune–Cookman and South Carolina State. However, all of Florida A&M's wins from the 2010 season were later vacated by the NCAA for fielding ineligible students. This was the Rattlers last conference championship before leaving the MEAC in 2020.
The 2021–22 Florida A&M Rattlers basketball team represented Florida A&M University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rattlers, led by fifth-year head coach Robert McCullum, played their home games at the Al Lawson Center in Tallahassee, Florida as members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
The 1995 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) during the 1995 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Rattlers were led by second-year head coach Billy Joe and played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. They finished the season with an overall record of 9–3 and a mark of 6–0 in conference play, winning the MEAC title. Florida A&M was invited to the Heritage Bowl, where they lost to Southern.
