Nearly 400 high school football players arrived at Florida A&M’s campus, looking for an opportunity and evaluation on Saturday, June 6.
It marked the first prospect camp for Quinn Fordham Gray Sr. as the program’s 20th full-time head coach, hired in December 2025. The FAMU Sports Hall of Fame quarterback called the assembly of prep football players a “tremendous turnout” as they packed onto Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium and the Rattlers’ on-campus practice field.
“As we know, recruiting is a lifeline of our program,” Gray told the Tallahassee Democrat.
“We have to make sure we’re putting our best foot forward and bringing the best talent possible. This is one of the highlights of our summer, being able to bring kids from all over the southeastern region, so we can have them on campus and be able to evaluate them right in front of our eyes.”
Gray and FAMU assistants proctored players in individual drills, hands-on coaching, the much-anticipated one-on-one drills that pitted the top-performing wide receivers and defensive backs against each other, and some trench warfare between offensive and defensive linemen.
Saturday also allowed current Rattler players to get their feet wet in coaching, such as quarterback Isaiah Knowles.
Knowles helped quarterbacks coach Reid Sanders in teaching footwork, hitting receiving targets, and pocket presence. The graduate student signal caller said he hopes to rise through the ranks as a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator and ultimately become a head coach someday.
“It’s definitely a good opportunity to get into the coaching phase of things because that’s what I want to do when my playing days are over,” said Knowles, who transferred from Albany State this January. “It was pretty cool.”
For summertime’s camp season, Gray held a ‘Helmets and Heels’ camp for women on June 5 and will next have a 7-on-7 tournament and Big Man Camp next Thursday, June 11.
The new head Rattler knows his first round of camps is just a prelude to something bigger. He has aspirations for FAMU to host a Mega Camp in Tallahassee in the coming years.
“It was a great day for us,” Gray said. “It probably only gets bigger from here. We’re looking forward to this thing growing and getting better from here.”
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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: Why Quinn Gray’s first FAMU football camp is summer’s highlight
Reporting by Gerald Thomas III, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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By Gerald Thomas III, Tallahassee Democrat | USA TODAY Network
