Florida A&M Rattlers football players pen letter saying deficiencies in athletic department led to ineligibilities

On Friday, Florida A&M football players considered not traveling to North Carolina to play their season opener in Chapel Hill. They eventually decided to play, despite 26 ineligible players, and lost to the Tar Heels, 56-24, in a game that the school earned $450,000 for playing.

In the days since, details have surfaced about the unrest, as deficiencies in FAMU's athletic staffing led in part to the ineligible players and the team considering not playing.

On Sunday, coach Willie Simmons detailed to ESPN in a phone interview some of the athletic department's shortcomings. He said that the school has just one academic advisor, down from a department of four in 2018 when the school had three advisors and a learning specialist. He also said the school's compliance officer is also the financial aid officer, who was pressed into doing both jobs when the compliance official left and lacks compliance experience.

Among the 26 ineligible players included three starters, one of whom is Isaiah Land, the top defender in the FCS last season and an NFL draft prospect for 2023. Simmons said that Land and one other teammate were «misadvised» on their course load leading to a four-game NCAA suspension, which Land said left him «lost and confused» about his school.

On Monday, more than 80 FAMU players signed a scathing letter to university officials, a copy of which was obtained by WTXL television in Tallahassee.

«On Friday, after much dialogue within our team, we decided to play at UNC,» the letter states. «We determined that we would not play for this institution, but for our families, teammates, classmates, our rabid fan base and our coaches who had prepared us and love us.»

The letter went on to say that they knelt in protest during two