James Colzie III (born December 8, 1974) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach for
Florida A&M University
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the Un ...
, a position he has held since 2024. He was the head football coach for Saint Mary's University in
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...
Florida State
Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
Coffeyville Community College
Coffeyville Community College (CCC) is a community college located in Coffeyville, Kansas, United States. It was founded in 1923.
Coffeyville Community College is a member of the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and the National Ju ...
, and
UBC
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top three ...
. He played college football and
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
for
Florida State
Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
.
Early life
Colzie was born on December 8, 1974, in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). He attended
South Miami Senior High School
South Miami Senior High School is a high school located at 6856 SW 53rd Street in Glenvar Heights, - Compare this map against the address of the school. unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, in the United States; located about a mile and a ...
where he played football, basketball and baseball under his father, James Colzie Jr., who was the school's
athletic director
An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...
. Playing defensive back in football, he was a top player with 24 career
interception
In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...
s and was named All-State, All- Dade County and ''
The Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.senior. He also scored over 2,000 points in basketball as a point guard and hit .300 as a center fielder in baseball. Off the field, he was the only student of South Miami's Advanced Placement Chemistry class to have an A-average throughout his senior year. The number two-ranked prospect in the county, he committed to play college football for the Florida State Seminoles.
As a true freshman in 1993, Colzie appeared in all 13 games for Florida State and helped them win the national championship. He was a backup in the 1994 and 1995 seasons, recording 17
tackles
Tackle may refer to:
* In football:
** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football
** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football
** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...
and two interceptions in the latter year. However, his 1995 season was derailed when he was sentenced to four days in jail and 75 hours of community service for involvement in a nighclub fight. He then made "education and staying out of trouble" his priority and became a starter as a senior in 1996. He had 34 tackles and three interceptions that year. In addition to football, Colzie also played a season of baseball in 1994 at Florida State. An All- Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection in 1996, Colzie reportedly had a brief stint with the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...
and played in the minor league baseball system of the
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...
.
Coaching career
Colzie began his coaching career with the
FIU Panthers
The FIU Panthers (also known as Florida INT Panthers) are the athletic teams representing Florida International University, an American public university located in Westchester, Florida. The Panthers currently compete in National Collegiate Ath ...
in 2000, serving as co-
special teams
In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...
coordinator and cornerbacks coach. He remained in the positions through the 2003 season. In 2004, he returned for Florida State as a
graduate assistant
A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respo ...
, assisting the cornerbacks and punt returners. In 2007, he moved to the
Valdosta State Blazers
The Valdosta State Blazers are the athletic programs of Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia. Valdosta State is an NCAA Division II member institution and has been a member of the Gulf South Conference since 1981.
Facilities
Bazemo ...
and helped them win the
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...
championship as special teams and defensive backs coach. He joined the
West Georgia Wolves
The West Georgia Wolves (UWG Wolves, formerly the West Georgia Braves) are the athletic teams that represent the University of West Georgia, located in Carrollton, Georgia, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Wolves compete as member ...
in 2008 and served through 2011 as assistant head coach, defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach.
In 2012, Colzie served as special teams coordinator, recruiting coordinator and defensive backs coach for the
Southern Arkansas Muleriders
The Southern Arkansas Muleriders represent Southern Arkansas University in intercollegiate athletics. They are a member of the Great American Conference and compete in NCAA Division II, fielding 16 varsity teams in 10 sports.
Teams
Men's sport ...
. He moved to Canada in 2013 and served as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach for the
Simon Fraser Clan
The SFU Red Leafs or Simon Fraser Red Leafs teams (formerly the Simon Fraser Clan) represent Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of NCAA Division II and are the only Canadian university affiliate ...
. He then was the defensive coordinator, recruiting coordinator and defensive backs coach for the Coffeyville Red Ravens community college team in 2014. Colzie was the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach for the
UBC Thunderbirds
The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thu ...
in 2015 and helped them win the
Vanier Cup
The Vanier Cup (french: Coupe Vanier) is the championship of Canadian university football. It is organized by U Sports football and is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. It is named after Georges Vanier ...
. In 2016, he was named head coach of the Saint Mary's Huskies. He served as their head coach for five seasons (2020 was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
) and compiled an overall record of 18–20, helping them reach the
Atlantic University Sport
Atlantic University Sport (AUS; french: Sport universitaire de l'Atlantique) is a regional membership association for universities in Atlantic Canada which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and pr ...
(AUS) championship twice. He resigned prior to the 2022 season.
In 2022, Colzie was hired by the Florida A&M Rattler as defensive backs coach. He added the role of assistant head coach in 2023 and helped them win the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship and the
Celebration Bowl
The Celebration Bowl is a postseason college football bowl game, first played in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season, 2015 season, contested between the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Southwestern Athleti ...
that season. After Willie Simmons left following the 2023 season to become
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball,
and block. Ther ...
s coach for the
Duke Blue Devils
The Duke Blue Devils are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...
, Colzie was named interim head coach, later being named full-time head coach in January 2024.