Who are the FAMU Coaches?

Head coach Joe Taylor will have his work cut out for him in this game.

FAMU is led by head coach Joe Taylor. Taylor took over at FAMU in 2008, leading them to a 9-3 record in his first season at the helm. Taylor came to FAMU after spending 16 seasons at Hampton University and developing that program, making it one of the more successful programs in FCS.

Taylor has over 200 wins in his career, so he is a well seasoned man on the sidelines. Facing USF will be a big challenge for him and his team, but a coach with that much experience will have his players and staff ready for the task at hand.

Earl Holmes is the defensive coordinator for FAMU. He is a former player for the Rattlers, becoming one of their most storied defenders before he played in the NFL. He runs as 3-4 defense, something USF has faced already this season when they took on ND (will change schemes though). They have several players that are listed as defensive linemen but are more like linebackers due to their size and speed, so FAMU will bring blitzes and will try to confuse Daniels with different packages they will line up with. USF has the size advantage on offense and more firepower, but against a hungry defense that is an underdog, they will have to execute against the Rattlers.

FAMU offense is led by Lawrence Kershaw, entering his 4th season as the coordinator (also the offensive line coach). Kershaw usually relies on a run heavy offense with his playcalling, but so far this season, they are not getting much on the ground. Instead, they are going more pass heavy, relying on the arm of Austin Trainor, the starting quarterback, to get the job done. We will see plenty of pro-style offense from them, but don't be surprised to see a spread formation here and there (Trainor is not a big run threat like Wenning was for Ball State).

Overall, FAMU has a solid coaching staff with Taylor at the helm of it. They will have to come up with a huge gameplan for the USF game. They have a solid roster of players, but they may not be as deep on their depth chart and will have to try to get turnovers to get something going for the upset.