Following the controversy surrounding the impending hire of current Fort Valley State head football coach Shawn Gibbs, the Florida A&M National Alumni Association filed a vote of no confidence in Athletic Director Tiffani Dawn-Sykes by a vote of 18-3. The meeting was held via Zoom on Wednesday evening and alumni expressed their grievances with the secrecy surrounding the search process and a reported lack of communication. In a second motion, the FAMU National Alumni Association also filed a 19-1 no-confidence vote in the hire of Gibbs to helm the program.

The no-confidence vote by the National Alumni Association of Florida A&M is the latest method that Ratter alumni have taken to speak out against the hire of Gibbs. Following the departure of former head coach Willie Simmons on New Year's Day, Sykes announced that a search commenced to determine the next head football coach. On January 9th, Rattler Nation Blog reported that Gibbs was Sykes's preferred candidate for the position.

Gibbs and Sykes have a professional connection that dates back to their time at Grambling University. Sykes, as the Director of Compliance, and Gibbs, as the Running Backs coach under then-head coach Rod Broadway. In the 2022 season, Gibbs joined Fort Valley State University and led the Wildcats to an impressive 8-2 season. Following that success, Gibbs led Fort Valley State to another strong season, going 8-3 and securing a victory in the inaugural Florida Beach Bowl.

Following the news of the potential hire, FAMU Boosters Inc. wrote a letter to university president Dr. Larry Robinson per a report by the Tallahassee Democrat. In the letter, the booster club requested that the hiring process be slowed down and that they have more of a voice in the coaching search.

“There has been no presentation of other highly qualified candidates being considered. Therefore, the Boosters are requesting that you suspend any further head coach search activity until the Athletic Director addresses the university community on this subject.”

The letter also stated. “We also request that major stakeholders are represented in the official Search Committee process for the Football Coach by you appointing an official Search Committee that can keep stakeholders abreast and provide discussion forums about the candidates.”

A Florida A&M Board of Trustees meeting is set for Tuesday, January 16th at 1 PM EST. Although no agenda has been announced, the meeting will presumably concern the hire of head coach Shawn Gibbs.