After an extensive search for a head coach, the Florida A&M Rattlers decided to look internally and promoted interim head coach James Colzie III to the full time position. The university held a press conference on Jan. 29 to officially introduce Colzie as the 19th head football coach.

Colzie began and ended his portion of the conference with a special request: he asked the band to perform “Hey, Let's Go,” a special Rattler chant. He relished in the ability to request the chant as the bona fide leader of the Florida A&M football program.

“It's great to be the head coach at Florida A&M University,” he said.

In his list of acknowledgements, Colzie made sure to highlight the returning players.

“I can't forget about my players; their voice, their ability to share their confidence with me,” he said. “When they introduce us, they'll have no choice but to call us the reigning HBCU National Champions.

In the media segment of the press conference, Colzie talked briefly about the recruiting process. Though the Rattlers lost some recruits after former coach Willie Simmons left, Colzie did not seem perturbed.

“It's about solidifying our recruiting class and making sure our guys are good,” he said. “That's what I'm worried about… We lost one or two guys from our class. We're not going to grab guys just to grab guys. We want to make sure we're grabbing the right guys. Guys that fit in our system, fit what we need them to be academically, where they fit on the football field, and where they are academically.”

“My goal,” Colzie said, “is to beat that team in Daytona Beach, win the SWAC Championship, and win the Celebration Bowl. That's the goal every year.”