TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Sunday marked the long awaited return of Florida A&M football. The Rattlers taking the field in an actual game for the first time since 2019. It wasn’t the result head coach Willie Simmons or Rattler nation was hoping to see but it does leave room for reflection.
And that’s exactly what head coach Willie Simmons did in his post-game press conference following his team's 7-6 loss to Jackson State. Representing the FAMU brand in front of a national audience and going toe to toe with JSU is one of the biggest takeaways the fourth year head coach talked about. This next week will be spent correcting mistakes and preparing for Fort Valley State. And they'll do it just like a championship-caliber team would do it.
“I thought these guys played their hearts out. They played with passion, a lot of energy and I can’t say enough about the heart of these young men tonight. They hadn’t played football in over 700 days but to come out here and give the effort that they gave is admirable," says Simmons. "So again we’ll get better. Obviously we’ll look at the film and make the corrections. But this is a championship team I truly believe in. Again you win some, you lose some in life and I think you learn a lot more in defeat than you do in victory sometimes. So we’ll learn from this one.
The Rattlers and Wildcats kickoff on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the first game back inside Bragg Memorial Stadium since 2019.
