FAMU Rattlers Open Season With New Look, Old Issues
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.
There’s a new coach and new devotion this season at Florida A&M. Yet the fallout from a slew of NCAA problems and serious university-wide budget cuts remain.
So, Rubin Carter’s first task as coach of the Rattlers is keeping the distractions away from the field.
Carter, hired in July as fired coach Billy Joe’s replacement at the historically Black college, is hoping a few victories might ease the campus — and relieve players caught in a difficult situation.
“This team has been through so much,” said senior safety Sammy Doughty, the Rattlers’ leading tackler with 81 a year ago. “We’ve stuck together.”
Carter’s program could soon feel the wrath of NCAA-imposed penalties, the result of 184 instances from 1998 through 2005 where athletes schoolwide participated despite not meeting eligibility requirements. And last year’s team was dismal, going 3-8.
