Willie Simmons, the hometown hero who led Florida A&M football to the HBCU National Championship this season, resigned Monday after six years as head coach to become running backs coach at Duke.
Simmons, 43, will join new Duke coach Manny Diaz, who was hired by the Blue Devils last month after spending two seasons as defensive coordinator at Penn State, and begin his journey in the Power 5 Conference.
The Tallahassee Democrat has reached out to Simmons for comment.
According to a Democratic source in the athletics department, Simmons met with FAMU leadership on Monday afternoon around 2 p.m., which was followed about 90 minutes later by a Zoom call in which Simmons informed his players of his decision.
FAMU Vice President and Director of Athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes then held a three-minute Zoom call with the media at 3:45 p.m. in which she confirmed Simmons' departure.
She also named associate head coach/cornerbacks coach James Colzie as the program's interim head coach.
Sykes promised: “It will be a thorough but rapid search. I recognize the impact the timing of this announcement would have had if not handled appropriately.”
Sykes did not answer questions from the media. ESPN was first to report Monday that Simmons was expected to resign.
FAMU leadership had been working feverishly behind the scenes over the past three days to increase its financial commitment to Simmons, his assistant coaches and the program's infrastructure.
According to Democratic sources within the university, the university committed to increasing Simmons' annual salary by at least $100,000 and honoring current and past contractual incentive awards for Simmons and his assistants.
But it apparently wasn't enough to keep Quincy native Simmons at FAMU for a seventh season.
In 2021, Simmons turned down South Carolina to become its running backs coach.
Duke's Manny Diaz has known FAMU's Willie Simmons for years
Simmons and Diaz have known each other for years.
Simmons and Diaz coached together as assistants at Middle Tennessee State from 2007 to 2009. Diaz was the defensive coordinator and Simmons was the running backs coach.
Diaz's son Colin also served as a student assistant coach at FAMU under Simmons.
In six seasons at FAMU, Simmons led FAMU to a 45-13 record.
His tenure also included an FCS playoff berth, a Southwestern Athletic Conference title and an HBCU National Cup as the Rattlers defeated Howard 30-26 on Dec. 16 in the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta to finish 12-1 .
After three years as head coach at Prairie View A&M, Simmons was fired and signed a five-year, $1.5 million contract with FAMU in December 2017. An extension followed in 2021 with the same salary until 2025.
Simmons ignited and united a passionate fan base that had experienced some loss and frustration before his arrival.
Off the field, Simmons worked in the community to end gun violence.
Simmons is married to the former Shaia Rene Beckwith (also a Quincy native), a two-time graduate of Florida A&M University. They have six children.
After his playing career with Clemson, The Citadel and Sioux City (United Indoor Football League), Simmons returned to Tallahassee in 2005 for one season as an assistant at Lincoln High.
Subsequent assistant positions included Clemson (graduate assistant), Middle Tennessee and Alcorn State. Simmons enjoyed a successful stint as the first head coach at Prairie View A&M, leading the Panthers to a 21-11 record in three seasons.
Simmons' overall coaching record at Prairie View and FAMU was 66-24. As a head coach, he never had a losing season.
Diaz is also a well-known name in Tallahassee and the ACC.
During his time there from 2019 to 2021, he led Miami to three bowl-eligible seasons. Diaz, whose Miami team was ranked No. 7 in the country in 2020, was fired after three seasons with a 21-15 record.
Diaz is also a graduate of Florida State University and served as an assistant with the Seminoles
He is working quickly to build his staff at Duke.
Early last week, he hired Jonathan Brewer as the Blue Devils' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. We previously worked under Diaz in Miami.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.