FAMU's Holmes Looks To Offseason To Build Rattler Program

COURTESY FAMU ATHLETICS

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  --As time ran off the clock in the 2013 Florida Blue Florida Classic, coach Earl Holmes had seemingly put the adventurous season behind him.  He accepted that it wasn’t what he wanted, but committed to making sure that next season would bring a stronger Rattler squad that could compete at a high level.

“As I look back at this season and all the adversity we had to face, we took our licks.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, and we certainly had to crawl before we could walk,” Holmes said.  “You won’t hear any excuses from me or my coaching staff…this season was what it was.  Now we have to be smart and strategic in how we move forward.  So many times we were in the games and just couldn’t get over the hump.  When you look at the South Carolina State game, North Carolina A&T game and the Delaware State game, we were right there.  What we’ve got to do is find out how we can dominate in this league and take all of the other factors out of the equation,” Holmes said.

The Rattlers had seemingly turned the corner late in the season as offensive coordinator Quinn Gray’s offense became more creative.  Quarterback Damien Fleming began to show flashes of the success the offense could have, but soon after they began, Fleming’s suffered a season-ending injury.  The Rattlers relied on redshirt freshman quarterback Carson Royal to lead the offense for the duration of the season.

“I told our seniors that I appreciated them in the part that they played in building our program.  Even though our record doesn’t show it, we began to build a foundation for a good program. We’ve got to have a complementary team, where the offense complements the defense and the defense complements the special teams,” Holmes said.

For Florida A&M, two bright spots on the day were the crowd and the return of the FAMU Marching “100.”  Though they were smaller in size than in recent years, the FAMU band has rebounded from a university-imposed suspension to bring entertainment back to FAMU halftimes.  They went head-to-head with the Marching Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman University both at a packed Battle of the Bands at the Amway Center on the night preceding the game and halftime of the Florida Blue Florida Classic in the McDonalds Halftime Show.

The other positive was the announced attendance of the game that exceeded 45,000.  Last season, the game drew just 32,000 fans as the absence of the Marching “100” and a spiraling football team led to a reduced interest in the game.  On this day, the rivalry between the Rattlers and Wildcats was alive and well, despite the marginal record of the Rattlers coming into the game.

“It was an up and down season for us.  We’ve got to find a way to sustain drives and we’ve got to find a way to keep those yellow flags from falling on the ground,” Holmes said.

The entire season, it seemed as if the Rattlers would make a series of good plays, only to have it negated by one bad play or a penalty flag.  “When you never find that rhythm, you make things tough for yourself and you find yourself behind the eight ball,” Holmes said.  “You want to start fast and you want to finish strong…this is a 60 minute game and it’s a rivalry game.  At the conclusion of today’s game, we begin next season.  We must go out and get the right combination of talent to be able to compete day in and day out.  It’s a challenge that we welcome.  We had an impressive crew of recruits at the game last week and some have already committed.  Once we round out the talent, my coaches and I can go full speed ahead in preparing the guys for a solid spring,” Holmes said.

COURTESY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION