Why FAMU football's Quinn Gray isn't worried about preseason snubs

Florida A&M isn’t expected to be a major player in the Southwestern Athletic Conference or Black College Football during the 2026 season.In preseason polls and awards, the Rattlers have received little to no love as they enter their first season under new head coach Quinn Fordham Gray Sr.“Preseason is just that ― it’s preseason,” Gray told reporters on Wednesday, July 15, during the virtual SWAC Media Day Kickoff session.

“Has everything to do with opinions and nothing to do with facts. So we don’t pay much attention to that. Predictions, preseason honors, and all that good stuff really don’t matter.”

Released on Wednesday, FAMU was picked to finish fourth in the SWAC East out of six teams and received the eighth-most votes among the league’s 12 members from a panel of head coaches and sports information directors. In the inaugural media and coach-voted Division I Black College Football Poll, the Rattlers were voted in the 10th and final spot in the slate of SWAC and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference teams, as well as more HBCU teams that participate in other conferences.Player-wise, FAMU was the lone team without any All-SWAC preseason first or second-team selections.

The Rattlers have an overhauled roster, and the SWAC doesn’t include transfers in the preseason player accolades. However, some argue that running back Jamal Hailey and FAMU’s media day player representative, edge rusher Antonio Camon Jr., may have had a case to make either team.

Gray feels the preseason omissions and bottom-tier rankings could provide an added chip on his team’s shoulder when the 2026 regular season kicks off on Aug. 29 with the Rattlers hosting Albany State on Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium.“It gives you intrinsic motivation as it relates to our players,” Gray explained.

“You have some good guys who played some good football at the university last year. I would hope maybe sometimes that they feel slighted. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to put the work in.”

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