Vice President and Director of Athletics at Florida A&M University, Tiffani-Dawn Sykes, sent an email to athletics staff stating that she is “no longer employed at FAMU.” The email, sent to the athletic staff, was publicly released by Tallahassee.com reporter Gerald Thomas III.
The resignation came after Dr. Timothy Beard, interim president of Florida A&M University, sought the immediate resignation of his entire senior leadership team. The leadership shift at Florida A&M is part of the fallout from the controversy surrounding Gregory Gerami's fraudulent $237 million donation.
Despite the turmoil, Sykes left a lasting impact on Florida A&M University and the college sports scene. When Florida A&M hired Sykes, they were addressing a compliance issue discovered before a 2022 game against the University of North Carolina.
In 2022, Sykes succeeded Kortne Gosha the Vice President and Director of Athletics. Sykes was instrumental in helping FAMU overcome compliance challenges, expanding the compliance team to seven positions, and increasing the number of academic advisors.
During Sykes' tenure, the tennis, baseball, football, women's cross country, and women's track teams secured SWAC champion titles. She also hired Tennessee women's basketball legend Bridgette Gordon, who led the Lady Rattlers basketball team to a birth in the SWAC Basketball Tournament. Sykes was honored as the “Nike Division I FCS Executive of the Year” for 2023 last month.
Yet, her efforts were insufficient in maintaining support among students and alumni. Controversy arose over her recommendations for new football and basketball coaches, resulting in backlash and disapproval. After endorsing a new head football coach in January, current Fort Valle State University head coach Shawn Gibbs, the FAMU National Alumni Association expressed an 18-3 vote of no confidence in a two-hour emergency board meeting.
Sykes changed direction after engaging a search firm to manage the replacement of Willie Simmons. Simmons departed the Rattlers on January 1st to assume the role of head Running Backs coach at Duke University. The former athletic director then fced a controversy in the hiring of Patrick Crarey II has head coach of the men's basketball team.
The Board of Trustees halted the approval of a three-year contract valued at $450,000 – equating to $150,000 a year – signed by Crarey on April 17th to head the Rattlers men's basketball program. However, various concerns led to the board halting the approval of the contract and then approving a one-year, $150,000 contract for him.
As of this writing, Florida A&M University has not announced an interim Director of Athletics. Sykes departs the program only 11 days before Florida A&M University's Week 0 matchup against Norfolk State University in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge.
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