2018 Florida A&M Rattlers football team

The 2018 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rattlers were led by first-year head coach Willie Simmons. They played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They finished the season 6–5, 5–2 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for second place.

2018 Florida A&M Rattlers football
Conference	Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
2018 record	6–5 (5–2 MEAC)
Head coach	Willie Simmons (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Alex Jackson (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Ralph Street (1st season)
Home stadium	Bragg Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 25,500)

2018 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 12 North Carolina A&T $		6	–	1					9	–	2
Bethune–Cookman		5	–	2					7	–	5
Florida A&M		5	–	2					6	–	5
South Carolina State		4	–	3					5	–	6
Howard		4	–	3					4	–	6
North Carolina Central		3	–	4					5	–	6
Morgan State		3	–	4					4	–	7
Norfolk State		2	–	5					4	–	7
Delaware State		2	–	5					3	–	8
Savannah State		1	–	6					2	–	8
$ – Conference champion Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Rattlers finished the 2017 season 3–8, 2–6 in MEAC play to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place.

On November 20, head coach Alex Wood resigned.[1] He finished at Florida A&M with a three-year record of 8–25.

Preseason

MEAC preseason poll

In a vote of the MEAC head coaches and sports information directors, the Rattlers were picked to finish in fifth place.[2]

Predicted finish	Team
1	North Carolina A&T
2	Howard
3	North Carolina Central
4	Bethune–Cookman
5	Florida A&M
6	Norfolk State
7	South Carolina State
8	Savannah State
9	Morgan State
10	Delaware State

Preseason All-MEAC Teams

The Rattlers had ten players selected to the preseason all-MEAC teams.[3]

Offense 2nd team Devin Bowers – RB Loubens Polinice – OL 3rd team Ryan Stanley – QB Obinna Nwankwo – OL Khalil Harris – OL

Defense 2nd team Antonio Miller – DL Jabireel Hazly – LB Olrando McKinley – DB Terry Jefferson – DB

Special teams 2nd team Chris Fabboul – P

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	5:00 p.m.	Fort Valley State*	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL (Jake Gaither Classic)	ESPN3	W 41–7	20,262
September 8	7:00 p.m.	at Troy*	Veterans Memorial Stadium Troy, AL	ESPN+	L 7–59	25,767
September 15	5:00 p.m.	Jackson State*	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN3	L 16–18	17,643
September 22	4:00 p.m.	Savannah State	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN3	W 31–13	16,644
September 29	4:00 p.m.	at North Carolina Central	O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC	ESPN3	W 55–14	8,451
October 6	4:00 p.m.	Norfolk State	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN3	W 17–0	26,045
October 13	1:00 p.m.	at No. 10 North Carolina A&T	BB&T Stadium Greensboro, NC	ESPN3	W 22–21	15,418
October 27	4:00 p.m.	Morgan State	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN3	W 38–3	14,037
November 3	1:00 p.m.	at Howard	William H. Greene Stadium Washington, D.C.		L 23–31	6,858
November 10	4:00 p.m.	South Carolina State	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	ESPN3	L 21–44	12,608
November 17	2:00 p.m.	vs. Bethune–Cookman	Camping World Stadium Orlando, FL (Florida Classic)	ESPN Classic	L 19–33	52,142
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

Fort Valley State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	7	0	0	7
Rattlers	7	13	13	8	41

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–1	2011	FAMU, 28–22

at Troy

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rattlers	0	7	0	0	7
Trojans	21	17	14	7	59

See also: 2018 Troy Trojans football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–3	2002	TROY, 24–37

Jackson State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	6	9	3	18
Rattlers	7	0	9	0	16

See also: 2018 Jackson State Tigers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–9–2	2014	JSU, 22–17

Savannah State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	7	0	0	6	13
Rattlers	0	3	14	14	31

See also: 2018 Savannah State Tigers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–1	2017	FAMU, 20–14

at North Carolina Central

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rattlers	24	17	7	7	55
Eagles	7	0	7	0	14

See also: 2018 North Carolina Central Eagles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–4–1	2017	NCCU, 21–14

Norfolk State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	0	0	0	0	0
Rattlers	0	3	0	14	17

See also: 2018 Norfolk State Spartans football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
13–3	2017	NSU, 35–28

at North Carolina A&T

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rattlers	0	6	7	9	22
No. 10 Aggies	14	7	0	0	21

See also: 2018 North Carolina A&T Aggies football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
44–19–3	2017	NCAT, 31–20

Morgan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	3	3
Rattlers	14	17	7	0	38

See also: 2018 Morgan State Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
22–8	2017	FAMU, 34–31

at Howard

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rattlers	10	7	0	6	23
Bison	21	0	7	3	31

See also: 2018 Howard Bison football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
27–10	2017	HOW, 37–26

South Carolina State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	10	14	6	14	44
Rattlers	0	14	7	0	21

See also: 2018 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
30–25–2	2016	SCSU, 48–14

vs Bethune–Cookman

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	7	12	14	33
Rattlers	3	10	6	0	19

See also: 2018 Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football team and Florida Classic

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
49–22–1	2017	BCU, 29–24

Coaching staff

2018 Florida A&M Rattlers coaching staff

Head Coach Head Coach – Willie Simmons Assistant head coach – Billy Rolle Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line – Alex Jackson Tight Ends/Special Teams/Associate Head Coach – James Spady Wide Receivers – Jelani Barassa Running backs – Clifford Henry Graduate assistant – Mateo Kambui Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive line – Ralph Street Defensive backs – Kenneth Gilstrap Defensive backs – Brandon Sharp Source:[4] Last updated 7/13/18

References

1. "FAMU head coach Alex Wood resigns, O-line coach Edwin Pata takes over as interim". www.tallahassee.com. Tallahassee Democrat/USA Today. November 20, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
2. "North Carolina A&T State Picked To Win 2018 MEAC Championship". Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. July 27, 2018.
3. "NCAT's Raynard, NCCU's Reynolds Headline 2018 All-MEAC Preseason Football Team". Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. July 25, 2018.
4. "2018 Florida A&M Football Roster". Florida A&M Athletics. Retrieved July 13, 2018.