FAMU 's National Signing Day Recruits

Head Rattler, Coach Joe Taylor is poised for a championship '09 season with a talented incoming class.

RATTLER RECRUITING RECAP: Florida A&M signed 15 players in their 2009 recruiting class, 13 of whom are from the Sunshine State....... Six (6) of the players are transfers, including five I-A imports from East Carolina, Marshall, South Carolina, Florida State and Illinois - all of whom originally hail from Florida.

COACH JOE TAYLOR COMMENTS: "We used a three-prong approach in our recruiting - Division I-A and junior college transfers, high school prospects, as well as looking within at redshirts already within the program - to give scholarships to....

"We ended up with about 15 or so newcomers total and we are satisfied that we met our needs, particularly on our offensive and defensive lines.... Since we lost only five seniors, we didn't have many pressing needs, but we felt that getting some experienced hands (from I-A ranks) could only be a plus for us....

"We still place a lot of emphasis on high school recruiting, which is the backbone of any successful program, and it is especially important for us to develop and maintain relationships with the high school programs in the state and region."

2009 Florida A&M Football Newcomers

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class. Hometown/High School/College or JUCO
Chirstopher Atkins DE 6-5 260 r-So. Quincy, Fla./E. Carolina
Corey Atkins RB 5-11 193 Fr. Madison, Fla./Madison HS
Jerod Brisbom LB 6-1 215 Fr. Tampa, Fla./Hillsborough HS
Jay Culpepper LS 6-5 290 r-Jr. Madison, Fla./Florida State
Brandon Curry OT 6-6 320 r-Fr. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Marshall
Brandon Davis OL 6-3 290 r-So. Jacksonville, Fla./Illinois
Jonathan Ferrell LB 6-1 200 r-Fr. Tallahassee, Fla. / FAMU DRS
Trevon Fleshmon TE/DE 6-2 235 Fr. Jacksonville, Fla./Forrest HS
Bobby Jackson OLB 6-2 225 Fr. Miami, Fla./Miami Jackson HS
Rodeshawn Joseph CB 6-1 170 Fr. Ft Lauderdale, Fla./Boyd Anderson HS
Abraham Muhieze S 6-1 205 Jr. San Diego, Calif./Grossmount College
Jamil Parris DE 6-5 230 r-Jr. Vero Beach, Fla./Kentucky
Harrison Sweeting LB 6-4 235 Fr. Jacksonville, Fla./Ed White HS
Daniel Walker P 5-11 180 r-So. Wakulla , Fla./Wakulla HS
Jerry Willis DL 6-4 280 So. Chicago, Ill.

Recruiting Class Profile

Name Pos Ht Wt Hometown / Previous School
Chris Atkins DE /LB 6-5 255 Quincy, Fla./East Carolina
Transfer from East Carolina. Graduate from West Gadsden where he was a five-sport letterman and versatile athlete playing S, LB and DE. HS Career totals: 380 tackles, 43 sacks, 114 tackles for loss, two interceptions and two block punts.

Corey Atkins RB 5-11 193 Madison, Fla. / Madison HS
This Madison HS standout has blazing speed and a power clocking 4.4..rated a three star recruit by Scout.com. Atkins rushed for over 1700 yds, 24 Touchdowns and was Second-Team all state in Class 2A.

Jerod Brisbom LB 6-1 215 Tampa, Fla. /Hillsborough HS
This Hillsborough HS product was their top LB for three consecutive seasons… Recorded over 100 tackles for three straight seasons… career stats 316 tackles, 13 sacks, 7 FF…Recruited by Iowa State, Bethune Cookman University, FIU.

Jay Culpeper OL/LS 6-5 290 Madison, Fla. /Florida State
This Madison county high school graduate and was on the state championship team. Versatile offensive lineman and Long Snapper with a great upside considering size….Culpepper will compete in Special Teams for snapping duties in 2009… four-year letterman at Madison HS… played two seasons at FSU, Criminal justice major.

Brandon Curry OL 6-6 305 Lauderdale, Fla. / Marshall University
Transfer from Marshall University. HS: Sun Sentinel & Miami Herald First-Team All County both Jr and Sr Year. First-Team All-State class 6A as a senior. Rated # 14 recruit out of broward county, no sacks allowed for two consecutive years, Army vs Navy all American game, selected for Dade vs broward all star game in 2007.

Brandon Davis OL 6-4 285 Jacksonville, Fla./Illinois
Highly touted offensive lineman from Jacksonville Fl. 4 star recruit, selected to play in Shrine Bowl, All Conference, Captain of Shrine Bowl, Top 5 offensive lineman in Florida. Recruited by FSU, Miami, Illinois, Tennessee, Ole Miss, WVU, FIU and FAU.

Jonathan Ferrell S 6-0 195 Tallahassee, Fla./FAMU DRS
Gray shirt sophomore from FAMU high school. Recorded 112 tackles his sr year along with 3 int, 2 ff and 7 sacks. Versatile player who can also line up at LB, was Second-Team All State in 2007 and also led the baby rattlers to 2007 state championship.

Trevon Fleshmon TE/DE 6-2 235 Jacksonville, Fla./Forrest HS
First-team TE shrine bowl, First-team all county selection, nominated for Army vs Navy all star game, First-team all state selection.4.5 speed TE with Career stats totaling 67 receptions, 17 TDs, 43 pancakes blocks; on defense 63 tackles, seven sacks…considered one of the top wrestlers in Florida, Fleshman only loss three matches in High School…Recruited by East Carolina, FIU, UCF and Arkansas State…Criminal justice major.

Bobby Jackson OLB 6-2 225 Miami, Fla. / Miami Jackson HS
Recorded 103 Tackles, 18 sacks (school record), 4 FF, 2 Ints, Miami Dade All Dade team. Sr season defensive captain, boasts 4.5 speed, honor student with 3.5 gpa….interests by East Carolina , Marshall, FIU and FAU.

Rodeshawn Joseph CB 6-1 170 Ft Lauderdale, Fla./Boyd Anderson HS
Aggressive player and lock down corner with great upside. Selected Broward county all star team, and played in Dade vs Broward game. Recorded 73 tackles, 4 int. Defensive captain during senior season….top 100 athlete in state of Florida... Business Management major.

Abraham Muhieze S 6-1 205 San Diego, Calif./Grossmont College
Juco transfer from Grossmont college in CA where he was the team captain and recorded 136 tackles, seven int , one ret for td, two FF, three blocked punts in one game Totaled five blocked punts in his career at Grossmont.. In HS, was versatile athlete who played QB/S… career stats Passed for 4,000 yds and 1300 yds rushing (which is a CA record for total yardages) 56 total touchdowns 43 passing and 13 rushing. At Safety, recorded 118 tackles, 10 Ints (3 returned for a TD)…First-Team All American, First-Team All State, Red Zone Player of the Year…recruited by Idaho State, Montana State, Texas State Major in Kinesiology.

Jamil Paris DE/LB 6-5 245 Gifford, Fla./Kentucky
Transfer from University of Kentucky where he played as a true freshman where he recorded 4 sacks, 23 tackles…recorded sack versus Chris Leak in Music city Bowl 2006…HS Sabastian River High where he was the #1 Wk DE in Florida, #13 in the Nation and Florida's top 100 at # 57….career totals 31 sacks, 113 tackles, 23 tkfls in just two seasons.

Harrison Sweeting LB 6-4 235 Jacksonville, Fla. / Ed White HS
Recorded 6 sacks, 93 tackles and 1 int…career stats 167 tackles 13 sacks…honorable mention all state.

Daniel “Troy” Walker P 6-0 195 Wakulla, Fla./Wakulla HS
Grey shirt sophomore with tremendous leg power…HS 2007 Wakulla High First-Team All State, First-Team All Big Bend as a Punter averaging 42.1 yds per punt… also Rushed for seven TDs, while playing Running Back at Wakulla…Undefeated wrestling title and was First-Team All Big Bend in wrestling.

Jerry Willis DT 6-4 295 Chicago, Ill. /
Who has tremendous upside at DT. Former all conference at FB/DT…Willis also received interest from Kentucky State, Grambling and Tenn State.