The NCAA Academic Progress Rate scores for Florida A&M football have improved after decades of challenges.
But not enough.
APR is a real-time, team-based metric that tracks the academic success, eligibility, and retention of scholarship student-athletes. It holds schools accountable for keeping athletes on track to graduate.
While the recent score showed some momentum in the right direction, it was the final blow for the NCAA to hand FAMU level-two sanctions, including a postseason ban for 2026 and spring practice restrictions for 2027, in April.
It put quite the damper on FAMU’s new head coach, Quinn Fordham Gray Sr.’s debut season.
On Tuesday, May 5, the NCAA released the APR scores for its Division I programs.
FAMU scored a 918, just 12 points under the NCAA’s 930 required threshold. The score is from the 2024-2025 season, reflecting the first year under former head coach James Colzie III.
The Rattlers posted a 901 in 2023-2024, Willie Simmons’ final year as head coach. The score came at a cost, as the program won its first Southwestern Athletic Conference and Celebration Bowl titles that year.
The unsatisfactory score from 2023-2024 led to FAMU being placed under NCAA Level One penalties, including reduced practice time, in 2025.
Compared to other SWAC schools, FAMU finished 11th out of the league’s 12 schools. Jackson State earned the top spot with a 961, and FAMU’s Florida Classic rival Bethune-Cookman is last at 914.
Alabama A&M and Mississippi Valley State are the SWAC’s other teams on NCAA Level Two restrictions.
FAMU’s football program has battled APR since the NCAA introduced the metrics in 2004-2005.
The Rattlers have finished over 930 only twice: in 2008-2009 under coach Joe Taylor and in 2018-2019 under Simmons. The APR struggles have led FAMU to play through scholarship and practice reductions and postseason bans multiple times over the years.
The Rattlers’ postseason ban has led to NCAA Transfer Portal loopholes for FAMU players, but the Rattlers aren’t expected to have a mass exodus.
Only players with one year of eligibility can enter the transfer portal. As of May 5, rising redshirt senior wide receiver Kenari Wilcher, the team’s catch leader in 2025, has announced his intentions to leave FAMU.
The Rattlers season begins on Aug. 29 when the Albany State Golden Rams visit Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium.
Florida A&M 2024-2025 APR scores across athletic program
Florida A&M football 2026 schedule
Gerald Thomas, III, is a multi-time national award-winning reporter for his coverage of the Florida A&M Rattlers at the Tallahassee Democrat.
Follow his award-winning coverage on RattlerNews.com and contact him via email at GDThomas@Tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU football APR scores improve, still hit with NCAA postseason ban
Reporting by Gerald Thomas III, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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