Florida A&M football is currently under NCAA Level-Two sanctions for the 2026 season due to unsatisfactory Academic Progress Rate scores.
That’s not an unfamiliar tale on The Highest of Seven Hills.
Since APR’s 2004 introduction, the real-time metric used to oversee players’ graduation track has been venomous toward the Rattler football team. FAMU has only eclipsed the required 930 single-year score twice, in 2008-2009 and 2018-2019, and has been on an APR-related postseason ban four times.
FAMU’s last reported APR score was a 918 in the 2024-2025 academic year. It was still too low, but an improvement from a 901 in the 2023-2024 season, when the Rattlers won the SWAC Championship and Celebration Bowl.
But with the help of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, FAMU’s longstanding APR battle could soon be an afterthought. It starts with the school’s institutional infrastructure and academic support systems to monitor student-athletes’ classroom performance.
“Florida A&M has some APR problems,” SWAC Commissioner Charles McClelland told the SWAC TV broadcast at the SWAC Football Media Day Kickoff on Wednesday, July 15.
“We were able to send a grant to Florida A&M to hire somebody.”
In June, FAMU Vice President and Director of Athletics John Davis announced the hire of Reginald Thomas to become the department’s Associate Vice President for Athletics and Academic Excellence. Thomas had previously worked at the SWAC’s Birmingham, Alabama, headquarters since 2021 as the Associate Commissioner for Administration.
The former Clark-Atlanta University football star and assistant coach has prior experience at Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Florida. At Daytona Beach’s Bethune-Cookman University, Thomas served as Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance Services and later as Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Student Support Services, earning staff member of the year honors during his tenure.
“They got sassy and hired my compliance person away from me,” McClelland joked about FAMU hiring Thomas, “But those issues are going to be resolved at Florida A&M because of the resources that we have.”
Leaving a rich legacy behind in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference to join the SWAC in 2021, McClelland sees FAMU as one of the league’s “pillar programs.”
So when the Rattlers are in good standing and contending for championships, it’s valuable to the SWAC.
While FAMU will be out of the playoff race, McClleland is excited about the program’s upside under new head coach Quinn Fordham Gray Sr., a Hall of Fame and record-setting quarterback for the Rattlers, as the program and the school make headway in improving the APR.
“One of the things I’m most excited about is the new coaches we have in the conference,” McClelland said. “Quinn Gray coming in ― outstanding season at his previous institution. Florida A&M, getting ready to take over that program.”
FAMU opens its 12-game regular season schedule against Gray’s former team, Albany State, which he head-coached the past three seasons, at home in Tallahassee on Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on Aug. 29, and will be televised via SWAC TV.
Florida A&M football 2026 schedule
All times are Eastern
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: How the SWAC is helping FAMU football tackle longstanding APR issues
Reporting by Gerald Thomas III, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Gerald Thomas III, Tallahassee Democrat | USA TODAY Network
