Florida Memorial football is back after nearly 62 years. Here’s who they will play.

Florida Memorial University football is back after a hiatus of nearly 62 years. The Lions, a historically black college and university (HBCU), held their first spring practice and also released their football schedule for the 2020 fall season on Monday.

The school, located in Miami Gardens, is in the NAIA.

On Monday, they held the first of 15 spring practices under head coach Tim “Ice” Harris. South Florida high school football fans should know the name. Harris coached at various schools, but most notably spent 11 seasons at Miami Booker T. Washington.

In his first two stints with the Tornadoes, Harris went 99-10, won three state titles and a national title in 2013. His third stint at BTW lasted three seasons, before he was named Florida Memorial’s head coach of a program undergoing a rebirth.

On Monday, Florida Memorial announced its football schedule for its first season since 1958.

“We’re going to play one of the toughest schedules in NAIA, right out the gate…and we love it,” Lions athletic director Ernest T. Jones said in a news release. “We’re going to play five teams ranked in the top 25 in Year One. There are two ways you can look at it — but we’re looking at it as we’re going to go out there and upset five top 25-ranked teams in year one. Be excited to be a Lion, be excited to be a part of the rebirth, be excited to be a part of the new day.”

The Lions open their season Aug. 29 in Miami against Reinhardt University. That game is slated for a 1 p.m. start. The game also serves as the first of five home games for Florida Memoria.

In addition to Reinhardt, the Lions also get Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky. Both early season opponents have excelled recently. Reinhardt has won 34 of its last 37 games, while Lindsey Wilson went 12-1 in 2019.

“I really appreciate the schedule. We want to play the best,” said Harris, who also had two stints as an assistant coach with the University of Miami, in a news release. “We want to put ourselves in position to train and compete with the best in the country because that’s who are and that’s what we do. Then when it all clicks, it will elevate the entire university.

“We can do this. We can take this schedule and do what we need to do with it. We can do this. And we will do this.”

Other games of note are the inaugural Big Cat Classic against HBCU rival Edward Waters College, homecoming on Oct. 10 against neighborhood rival St. Thomas University, a “Black Out” game against Ave Maria University on Nov. 7 and the Nov. 14 game with Southeastern University under the Senior Day and Armed Forces/Community Day promotion.

For ticket and parking information, visit www.FMUAthletics.com/Tickets.

Here’s a look at the full schedule:

FMU Lions 2020 Football Schedule

^ = Inaugural “Big Cat” Classic/AD Honor Roll Day

* = Homecoming

# = Black Out Game

% = Senior Day/Armed Forces & Community Day