# List of Florida A&M Rattlers head football coaches

The Florida A&M Rattlers college football team represents Florida A&M University in the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), as part of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. The program has had 19 head coaches, and 1 interim head coach, since it began play during the 1907 season. Since January 2024, James Colzie III has served as Florida A&M's head coach.
Six coaches have led Florida A&M in postseason bowl games: William M. Bell, Jake Gaither, Rudy Hubbard, Ken Riley, Billy Joe, and Willie Simmons. Seven coaches also won conference championships: Gaither captured twenty, Bell three, and Hubbard two, as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference; Joe captured five, Riley two, and Taylor one as a member of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference; Simmons captured one as a member of the SWAC. Gaither captured eight and Bell and Hubbard both captured two black college football national championships. Gaither also won the 1962 AP small college national championship and Hubbard won the 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football national championship.
Gaither is the leader in seasons coached, with 25 years as head coach and games coached (244), won (204), and highest winning percentage at .844. Jazz Byrd has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .222. Of the 19 different head coaches who have led the Rattlers, Gaither, Hubbard, Joe, and Joe Taylor have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

## Key

Key to symbols in coaches list :
| General | General | Overall | Overall | Conference | Conference | Postseason | Postseason |
| No. | Order of coaches | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
| DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
| CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
| NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties | C% | Conference winning percentage | | |
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage | | | | |

## Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards :
| No. | Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC | CC | NC | Awards |
| 1 | Jubie Bragg | 1907–1909 1920–1925 1930–1932 | 29 | 9 | 17 | 3 | 0.362 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 0.118 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2 | Jazz Byrd | 1926–1929 | 18 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 0.222 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0.083 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 3 | Ted A. Wright | 1933 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0.667 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.667 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 4 | Eugene J. Bragg | 1934–1935 | 15 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0.500 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.500 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 5 | William M. Bell | 1936–1942 | 61 | 46 | 9 | 6 | 0.803 | 34 | 6 | 2 | 0.833 | 5 | 2 | 1 | — | 3 | 2 – 1938 1942 | — |
| 6 | Herman Nielson | 1943–1944 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 0.529 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0.857 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 7 | Jake Gaither$^†$ | 1945–1969 | 244 | 204 | 36 | 4 | 0.844 | 119 | 3 | 0 | 0.975 | 12 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 8 – 1950 1952 1953 1954 1957 1959 1961 1962 | NAIA Coach of the Year (1969) |
| 8 | Pete Griffin | 1970 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0.500 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0.750 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 9 | Clarence Montgomery | 1971 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0.545 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0.750 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 10 | Big Jim Williams | 1972–1973 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 0.455 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0.625 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 11 | Rudy Hubbard$^†$ | 1974–1985 | 134 | 83 | 48 | 3 | 0.631 | 30 | 9 | 1 | 0.763 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 2 – 1977 1978 | — |
| 12 | Ken Riley | 1986–1993 | 87 | 45 | 40 | 2 | 0.529 | 23 | 13 | 0 | 0.639 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — |
| 13 | Billy Joe$^†$ | 1994–2004 | 132 | 86 | 46 | 0 | 0.652 | 56 | 17 | 0 | 0.767 | 3 | 7 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | — |
| 14 | Rubin Carter | 2005–2007 | 33 | 16 | 17 | — | 0.485 | 12 | 14 | — | 0.462 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 15 | Joe Taylor$^†$ | 2008–2012 | 54 | 35 | 19 | — | 0.648 | 26 | 12 | — | 0.684 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | — |
| 16 | Earl Holmes | 2012–2014 | 22 | 6 | 16 | — | 0.273 | 5 | 9 | — | 0.357 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| Int | Corey Fuller | 2014 | 4 | 1 | 3 | — | 0.250 | 1 | 3 | — | 0.250 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 17 | Alex Wood | 2015–2017 | 33 | 8 | 25 | — | 0.242 | 7 | 17 | — | 0.292 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| 18 | Willie Simmons | 2018–2023 | 58 | 45 | 13 | — | 0.776 | 32 | 5 | — | 0.865 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 19 | James Colzie III | 2024–present | 12 | 7 | 5 | — | 0.583 | 5 | 3 | — | 0.625 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |