Corey Fuller will have his first game as Florida A&M's interim football coach Saturday when the Rattlers host Norfolk State in a Mid- Eastern Athletic Conference matchup.
Having replaced Earl Holmes this week, Florida A&M is the 30th FCS school to undergo a head coaching change since the end of the 2013 season - a maddening rate of almost 25 percent of the programs on the lower half of Division I college football.
Fuller, who is in his second season on the Rattlers' staff, will try to lift a team that has a 2-6 record.
Florida A&M is the second program to have a change during the 2014 season. Nicholls State's Charlie Stubbs resigned after an 0-3 start and interim Steve Axman is winless through his first six games.
It's not all doom and gloom across the FCS, however, as eight of the new coaches have led their teams to winning seasons and another five are at the .500 mark.
One of the better jobs has been turned in at the University of Albany, where former Duquesne head coach Greg Gattuso replaced Bob Ford, who retired last season after serving for 44 years as the only head coach in program history.
Albany moved into CAA Football a year ago and went a dismal 1-11 overall and 0-8 in conference games. This season, the Great Danes have posted the biggest turnaround among FCS teams, off to a 6-2 start and ranked 23rd in The Sports Network FCS Top 25.
Broderick Fobbs has improved plenty both on and off the field at Grambling State. The Tigers finished 1-11 amid significant turmoil last year, including a forfeited game after players staged a six-day walkout in protest of the program's coaching situation and training facilities.
The Tigers are 5-3 this season, having won all five of their Southwestern Athletic Conference games, and are in first place in the West Division.
Clint Conque has moved across the Southland Conference from Central Arkansas to Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks finished in a last-place tie a year ago, but are 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference, cracking the national rankings this week at No. 24 after a big win over defending champion Southeastern Louisiana last Saturday.
Among the other coaches who have led a winning season is Chris Klieman at top- ranked North Dakota State (8-0) of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Bison have won an FCS-record 32 consecutive games since 2012.
Also, there is John Grass at fifth-ranked Jacksonville State (6-1) in the Ohio Valley Conference, Everett Withers at James Madison (5-3) in the CAA, Rick Fox at Drake (5-3) in the Pioneer Football League and Steve Campbell at Central Arkansas (5-4) of the Southland Conference.
Four weekends remain in the FCS regular season.
[SportsNetwork.com]
