FAMU looking to capitalize on Holmes and home slate

HEAD COACH EARL HOLMES
 

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --  Despite a 4-7 finish by the FAMU football team last season, marketing director Angie Suggs isn’t pulling her hair out as she tries to come up with a sales pitch to prospective sponsors.

Instead, she believes she has gotten a plum with the hire of Earl Holmes. His popularity has soared since he became head coach. On top of that, the Rattlers will play five of their 12 games this season at Bragg Stadium.

Suggs calls it a marketer’s dream. She believes the timing is perfect as FAMU pushes to recruit a younger generation of prospective season-ticket buyers. Most of the Rattlers’ current season-ticket holders have been doing so for as many as three decades or longer, she said.

That’s why Suggs is focusing on the 30-something alums.

The Holmes effect is priceless, she said, because it touches people on several levels. Holmes went from a small FAMU DRS to a walk-on who made the university’s team and later had a 10-year NFL career.

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