Miami’s Mario Cristobal has nothing but respect for FAMU’s ‘first-class coach’ James Colzie

The connection between Miami Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal and Florida A&M Rattlers coach James Colzie III runs deep.

Both are Miami natives with football in their blood, with Cristobal playing at Columbus before going on to be a starting offensive lineman at Miami while Colzie starred at South Miami before taking his career to Florida State. Both have since made names for themselves in the coaching realm.

And while they are opponents on Saturday with the No. 12 Hurricanes hosting Florida A&M for Miami’s home opener at Hard Rock Stadium, there is mutual respect coming from both sides.

“James Colzie, I have a tremendous amount of respect for him,” Cristobal said. “He’s not only a first-class coach, but he’s a first-class human being, and he’s going to have his team prepared to play.”

Colzie, 49, is in his first year as FAMU’s head coach. He spent his past two seasons as FAMU’s defensive backs coach, while also holding the role of assistant head coach in 2023. His other coaching stops over his 25 years of coaching have included FIU, Florida State, Valdosta State, West Georgia, Souther Arkansas, Simon Fraser, Coffeyville, University of British Columbia and Saint Mary’s in Nova Scotia, the final stop of which he was head coach for five seasons and won a conference title in 2018.

Colzie said it meant “a lot” to hear the positive comments from Cristobal.

“Especially with the type of career that he’s had,” Colzie told reporters this week. “And believe it or not, even when I was in Canada coaching [at Saint Mary’s] and he was at Oregon, this is the kind of guy he is. I would just shoot him a text and he would always respond back. He never got too high as far as his position went. And to me, especially in this fraternity of guys, he’s the head coach at Oregon responding to a guy who was a head coach in Canada, he always did that. He was one of the first people who congratulated me when I got this opportunity.

“We’ve got a lot of mutual friends, especially being in the communities that we grew up in, and that means a bunch,” Colzie continued. “I can’t forget how [Miami offensive line coach Alex] Mirabal is the same exact way. I’ve know coach Mirabal for a very, very long time. They know my father, and the enormous respect that I have for them goes way beyond football. Way beyond football, just because of how they’ve handled themselves throughout their tenure. Not just at Miami, not just at Oregon, not just at FIU. It dates back 20, 25 years just because of what they’ve done and the enormous impact they’ve had on the community.”

FAMU’s local ties

Colzie isn’t the only person on FAMU’s team with South Florida ties.

Nineteen players on the Rattlers’ roster are from Miami-Dade or Broward counties: Quarterback Daniel Richardson (Miami Booker T. Washington and Carol City); wide receivers Jalen Rogers (Miami Northwestern) and Jalon Howard (Miami Norland); running backs Thad Franklin (Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna and UM) and Vershod Quinn (Miami Columbus); offensive linemen Caleb Riley (Miami Norland), Michael Marshall (Miami Northwestern), Ricky Taylor (Miami Northwestern), Sebastien Laraque (Columbus and FIU) and Jeremy Fishkin (Parkland Stoneman Douglas); defensive backs Corey Collier Jr. (Miami Palmetto), Simion Hines (Davie Western), Ah’Mare Lee (North Miami Beach), T.J. Huggins (Miami Killian) and Jordan Cumberbatch (Miramar); linebackers Kareem Maycock (Miami Northwestern), linebacker Malcolm Major (Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna) and Khalil Hunter (Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas); and defensive lineman Landon Bolding (Coconut Creek Monarch).