The 2026 college football season has not even begun and the Rattlers of Florida A&M University are already having playoff issues.

Due to some academic issues, the NCAA has banned FAMU from any potential post season play for the 2026 season including the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game, the Celebration Bowl, or the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.  The team has also been given some restrictions on practice sessions.

The NCAA requires that collegiate sports teams have a minimum score of 930 on the Academic Progress Rate – the Rattlers scored 911 last May.  The Rattlers were charged with a Level Two Academic Progress Rate.  The Rattlers have not reached the minimum of 930 since the 2018-19 season when they scored a 931.

FAMU leadership noted that the issue with low scores was due to a failure of institutional infrastructure and not a reflection of the student-athletes.

This is not the first time that FAMU has had to face NCAA violations and bans across multiple sports and faced major issues with the Marching 100 when a band member died as the result of a hazing issue.

New FAMU President Marva Johnson noted,  “Florida A&M holds its student-athletes to the same standard of excellence we hold every Rattler.”

She added, “these penalties reflect a failure of institutional infrastructure, not a failure of our student-athletes. We are committed to building the academic support structure this program has long deserved — and this administration will be accountable for delivering it.”

Johnson concluded, “we are fortunate to have tremendous partners in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, and Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland has acted swiftly to provide support as we move forward.”

FAMU explained via press release that the Academic Progress Rate is “a term-by-term measure of academic eligibility and retention for scholarship student-athletes, calculated on a rolling four-year average.”

The release emphasized, “the four-year window that produced this score includes academic years that predate the current President, athletic administration, and coaching staff, and reflects a period in which the university’s academic support infrastructure for student-athletes was insufficient.”

President Marva Johnson, Vice President and Director of Athletics John F. Davis, and the FAMU Hall of Fame Rattler head football coach Quinn Fordham Gray Sr have all been hired by FAMU within the past few months.

Davis said, “we owe it to our student-athletes and the Rattler community to be transparent about where we are and where we are going. The four-year rolling average that produced this outcome includes a period of significant transition — that context does not excuse the result, and we are not here to make excuses. We are here to fix it. The 2026 season is an opportunity for this team to demonstrate its character, develop its culture under Coach Gray, and lay the foundation for years to come. I am already encouraged by the support of SWAC Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland as we work through this together.”

Speaking on the sanctions for 2026 Coach Gray said, “academics and football are not competing priorities in our program — they are the same priority. Every player on this roster knows the expectation: you handle your business in the classroom first.”

He added, “we have put the systems in place. Now it is about execution and accountability, every single day. Our job is to build this program the right way — on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. While this ban seems daunting, it does not take away our ability to continue to impact our student-athletes’ lives on and off the field, and still work toward the ultimate goal of earning degrees.”

All of the football team members have been notified of the team sanctions and any role they may by affected via the NCAA bylaws.

The press release stated, “the university is committed to supporting each student-athlete through this process and to ensuring every student-athlete has the information and resources needed to make the best decision for their academic and athletic future.  FAMU has expanded compliance and academic monitoring, including real-time tracking of student-athlete academic engagement and early intervention protocols to identify and address academic risk promptly.”