The Florida A&M football program has its next head coach, but the university forked over quite a bit of cash to ‘search' for a man right in front of it.

The Rattlers introduced James Colzie III as the next FAMU head football coach Monday, officially naming him the replacement for Willie Simmons, who joined Manny Diaz's Duke coaching staff as a running backs coach on Jan. 1. Despite Colzie spending the last two seasons on the Florida A&M staff and having been named the interim head coach following Simmons' departure, the university paid thousands to a search firm, according to a copy of a contract obtained by ABC 27 reporter Shamarria Morrison.

“FAMU's board of trustees hired Renaissance Search and Consulting and agreed to pay them up to $25,000 for the search period,” Morrison reported. “The contract was entered into pretty hastily after backlash from donors and alumni. Just two weeks ago, ABC 27 reported on the three-hour board of trustees meeting where FAMU's Athletic Director Tiffani-Dawn Sykes was in the hot seat on her handling of hiring the new head football coach.”

During that contentious meeting, Sykes said “community feedback” compelled her to opt for the search firm, which ultimately submitted a list of candidates to the Florida A&M athletic director and president. Of those options, FAMU selected the 49-year-old Colzie.

Who is new Florida A&M football head coach James Colzie III?

Amidst coaching drama at Florida A&M, James Colzie III remains ready to step into the role as the permanent head coach.

Search firms are relatively commonplace in college football, with many universities choosing to use the firms despite sometimes obvious candidates. This is often done to give athletic directors and other university leaders a clear view of the hiring landscape and allow more experienced people to do some of the heavy lifting in the search for a new coach.

Colzie arrived in Tallahassee in 2022 to coach the Florida A&M defensive backs. He had the title of associate head coach added to his responsibilities in 2023. In the two years he was on staff, the Rattlers went 9-2 and then 12-1, with FAMU winning the SWAC and its first Celebration Bowl in 2023 by defeating Howard in the premier HBCU bowl game.

Before joining Willie Simmons' staff, Colzie was the head coach of Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The Huskies went 18-20 in his five seasons as head coach. He previously served as a graduate assistant on Bobby Bowden's staff at Florida State from 2004 to 2006.

Under Colzie, Florida A&M aims to remain the top HBCU program. In five seasons with Simmons at the helm, Florida A&M went 45-13 and has won no fewer than nine games since 2018, Simmons' first year as coach.