Ahead of their 2024 football season debut in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, the Florida A&M Rattlers have eliminated any suspense about who their starting quarterback will be.
The Rattlers have named FBS transfer Daniel Richardson as their starting quarterback. He won the starting job over veteran Junior Muratovic and North Carolina A&T transfer Alston Hooker.
Richardson is entering his final year of eligibility after spending his first four collegiate seasons at Central Michigan and, most recently, a year at Florida Atlantic.
He had a breakout year in the 2021 season, putting up a career-high 2,633 passing yards, completing 60% of his passes, and scoring 24 touchdowns with just six interceptions.
“Ultimately, we decided today that we’re going to go with Daniel Richardson as our starting quarterback,” FAMU head coach James Colzie III said Monday on his weekly coaches show.
“It wasn’t a runaway or a landslide win. They both did really, really, really good things throughout training camp. We just felt that, at this time, Daniel Richardson would be the guy.”
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In his lone season with Florida Atlantic, the FBS transfer recorded his second 2,000-yard season, completing an efficient 65% of his passes and scoring 13 touchdowns.
Richardson will be the Rattlers’ starting quarterback, succeeding the reigning SWAC Offensive Player of the Year Jeremy Moussa.
In addition to moving on from Moussa and reigning SWAC Defensive Player of the Year Isaiah Major, the Rattlers also will enter with a new head coach after Willie Simmons departed for a position at Duke.
Florida A&M is coming off a 2023 season in which it claimed its first SWAC championship and a victory in the Celebration Bowl.
This Saturday, they begin their quest to repeat as champions when they represent the SWAC in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge against Norfolk State.