TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Feb. 6) – Florida A&M University (FAMU) head football coach Willie Simmons officially unveiled the 2019 Signing Day class Wednesday afternoon, and was brimming with optimism about the potential of the crop of signees.
“With the new redshirt rules (which allow players to play up to four games and still redshirt), I think all of these players will be able to contribute right away,” Simmons said.
The signees roster release at 5:30 p.m. Eastern, was heavily weighted toward Tallahassee, Jacksonville, North and Central Florida, as well as South Georgia.
“One of the big criticisms of the program over the years was the lack of area recruiting,” Simmons explained. “If we are going to fill up Bragg Stadium every week, then we knew we needed to make local and area recruiting a major focus of our efforts.”
Overall, FAMU signed six players from Jacksonville, four from Tallahassee, three from South Georgia (Thomasville, Brooks County and Hampton), along with scattered others from Miami, Orlando and other locales.
“We feel very good about this class, and we were able to address some needs from adding depth, to getting bigger size wise, and adding team speed,” Simmons said.
On the offensive side, FAMU signed a quarterback, Cameron Sapp, a 6-3, 190-pounder from Jacksonville's Lee High School. “Sapp is a winner. He led his team to a win over Ribault which went on to win the state title. His uncle played both quarterback and linebacker at Clemson, and we fell he can come in and compete,” Simmons said.
The Rattlers also addressed needs at receiver, signing three wideouts and two tight ends as of late Wednesday. He was particularly happy about the signing of Donovan Mobley of Tallahassee Leon High, and Chris Sanders of Jacksonville's Bolles School.
FAMU also acquired three offensive linemen, two from South Georgia, along with JUCO transfer Jalen Spady, son of FAMU Assistant Head Coach James Spady.
The Rattlers also went in for defense, signing four lineman, two linebackers and five defensive backs.
Several signees carried either a two- or three-star designation, including two-star RB Terrell Jennings from Jacksonville's Mandarin High, and three star defenders like LB Omari Fiffer from Jacksonville's Edward White High; LB Moezies Telfort from Fort Lauderdale's University NSU High; and DB Markquese Bell from Bridgeton, N.J. via Coffeyville Community College in Kansas.
FAMU expects to sign up to eight (8) additional players over the next few days.
FAMU's NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT SIGNEES 2-6-19
NAME POS HT. WT. HOMETOWN/LAST SCHOOL
Cameron Sapp QB 6-3 190 Jacksonville, FL/Lee HS
Terrell Jennings RB 6-1 216 Jacksonville, FL/Mandarin
Angelo Gonzalez WR 6-3 185 Miami, FL/Coffeyville CC (KS)
Chris Sanders WR 5-7 175 Jacksonville, FL/The Bolles School
Donovan Mobley WR 6-1 175 Tallahassee, FL/Leon
Kamari Young TE 6-3 230 Tallahassee, FL/Godby
Kaloeb Parker TE 6-5 215 Jacksonville, FL/Sandalwood
Tevin Rayford OT 6-5 250 Thomasville, GA/Thomasville HS
Khamari Thompson OT 6-4 265 Hampton, GA/Dutchtown
Jalen Spady OG 6-3 325 El Paso, TX/Glendale CC (AZ)
Jolan Gilley DT 6-2 265 Tallahassee, FL/Florida High
Kamari Stephens DT 6-2 290 Jacksonville, FL/Sandalwood
Anthony “Ant” Daniels DT 6-1 250 Brooks County, GA/Brooks Co.
Omari Fiffer LB 6-0 197 Jacksonville, FL/Ed White
Moezies Telfort LB 6-2 225 Ft Lauderdale, FL/University HS
Cortez Reid DB 6-2 183 Rockledge, FL/Viera
Javan Morgan DB 5-11 180 Tallahassee, FL/Florida High
Markquese Bell DB 6-3 194 Bridgeton, NJ/Coffeyville CC (KS)
Jahsimeon Campblin DB 6-0 175 Orlando, FL/Edgewater
