The preseason hype at SWAC was raised to a higher decibel on Tuesday when coaches and players met for media day in Birmingham, Alabama.
SWAC freshman Florida A&M contributed to the noise by finishing second in the East Division’s predicted order. The Rattlers earned 109 points.
Alabama A&M was chosen as the division favorite to win. The Bulldogs won the SWAC championship in the spring season 2021.
“There are always mixed feelings when it comes to the preseason leaderboard. Nobody has played a game. It shows that people have respect for what we’ve done in the past,” said FAMU head coach Willie Simmons.
“Much respect to Alabama A&M. It is the final SWAC champion and deserves to be selected first. We had the best record in 2019. I’m excited and we will determine things in September.”
From an individual standpoint, the Rattlers have three players on the preseason all-SWAC team – security guards Markquese Bell and Renaldo Flowers and stock market speculator Chris Faddoul.
“These are pre-season awards. It’s nice, but I still have to perform,” said Faddoul, a 2018 AP All-American first-team winner and a 2019 American Football Coaches Association FCS All-American Second Team award.
“I’m honored to be named second team All-SWAC. But the ultimate goal is to be first and win games.”
Simmons cites two factors behind the lack of FAMU representation on the preseason team – playing as a freshman at SWAC and several returnees honored last season.
“It’s very difficult when you’re a new member of the conference. A lot of the preseason teams are from last year,” said Simmons.
“If a man was second team a year ago and a first team senior graduated, that player will be upgraded to first team.”
Simmons walked the fine line of trust, confirming that the Rattlers are well equipped to speak more with their presence on the field in the fall than with the chatter of the summer reviews.
“We have a lot of talented players who deserve all of the conference awards. The good thing is that we have a full season to decide who is the best at the conference,” he said.
The rattler players at SWAC media day were Bell and offensive lineman Keenan Forbes.
Both leaders have All-American and All-MEAC bullet points on their college resumes.
Forbes was an All-American in Hero Sports’ 2019 preseason. He finished this season with BOXTOROW All-American and First-Team All-MEAC status.
“It was a great experience to be here. I know that as a new team at SWAC we have a chip on our shoulders,” said Forbes.
“I was shocked that I wasn’t selected for preseason All-SWAC. I wasn’t preseason for All-MEAC either. It doesn’t bother me at all.”
Bell was an all-MEAC first-team security team in 2019. He finished that year with 61 tackles and five interceptions.
In June he was elected Athlon Sports Preseason All-American. He is one of two SWAC and three college black players on this list.
Below is the predicted order of destination for Divisions East and West. Your point ranks are in brackets.
east
- Alabama A&M (122)
- Florida A&M (109)
- Jackson State (80)
- State of Alabama (76)
- Bethune Kochmann (71)
- Mississippi Valley State (25)
west
- Alcorn State (128)
- South (108)
- Grambling State (85)
- Prairie View A&M (78)
- Arkansas Pine Bluff (68)
- South Texas (37)
Follow FAMU beat writer Rory Sharrock on Twitter @rattlernews and @ married2game1.
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The post FAMU came second in the SWAC East Division at the media day first appeared on Daily Florida Press.
from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/famu-came-second-in-the-swac-east-division-at-the-media-day/
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