Willie Simmons, former Florida A&M head coach, has accepted Duke University’s offer to become Manny Diaz’s running backs coach. As Florida A&M Rattlers coach, he won the 2023 Division I HBCU Football Championship and the Cricket Celebration Bowl. Upon his departure, Simmons wrote a public statement. 

“I have full confidence in myself and my abilities, you know, but again, everything in life is about decisions, the tough decisions that have to be made. And for me, you know, I rolled the dice to make this move, and it’s again, it’s because of who he is with. I have the utmost respect for Manny Diaz and what he stands for, who he is as a man,” Simmons said, according to 247 Sports. 

As a head coach with Florida A&M and Prairie View A&M since 2015, he has amassed a 66-24 record. In the SWAC since 2021, his team has posted 45-13 and 22-2 records during his time at FAMU. At Duke, Simmons has experienced the program’s rigors, coaching methods, and team dynamics.

“As a person as a coach, I’ve been around him, I’ve seen how he interacts with his players. I know what type of program he wants to run. And that’s what’s enticing to me to learn from a guy like that and be in that type of environment at a school with a rigorous academic component to it and just continue to elevate my career,” he continued.

“And so all those things went into the deciding factor to make this move. Again, it wasn’t an easy one. And again, it’s been the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my coaching career. But with much prayer, you know, my wife and I, you know, we felt that we, one has to have done what we said we were going to do here family and to the good Lord opened that door for us. So to allow us to walk through it, and we’re gonna walk through boldly, and we’re gonna set that new challenge,” he concluded.

Simmons leaves Tallahassee to become an FBS Division I assistant coach with the ultimate goal of leading an FBS DI football program, according to HBCU Legends.