Willie Simmons has been tapped as the man to lead FIU. Saturday morning, Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported the two sides were finalizing details to make Simmons their next head coach.
Earlier this afternoon, the Panthers’ new head football coach let the world know he was “excited” and looking forward to recruiting the best and brightest young men to bring championships and produce winners on and off the field.”
Coach Simmons began his coaching career in 2005 as the pass game coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Lincoln High School (FL) 2005. The next year,2006, he served as a graduate assistant working with the offense on Coach Tommy Bowden’s staff.
He then moved on to Middle Tennessee State, where he served as running backs coach from 2007-09. He was promoted to pass game and running backs coach in 2010 and in 2011 he was elevated to offensive coordinator and running backs. In his one season overseeing the Blue Raider offense, MTSU offense led Conference-USA in total offense (401.8 ypg), rushing yards (146. 75 ypg), as well as converting 40% of their third downs.
Simmons spent three seasons, 2012-14, as Alcorn State’s offensive coordinator and running backs coach. In 2013 he helped the Braves finish with a 9-3 record, which was their first winning campaign since 2006. In his last season in Lorman, the Braves offense was the second-highest scoring unit in the country, averaging 44 points per contest as Alcorn claimed the SWAC title and the HBCU National Championship.
Coach Simmons’ first bite at the head coaching apple came in 2015 at Prairie View and it was a resounding success. In his three seasons at the helm of the PVAMU program, Simmons compiled a 21-11 overall record and a 16-9 mark in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. He was above .500 in each of his three campaigns; three consecutive winning seasons at Prairie View hadn’t been achieved in 55 years.
He was then named the head coach at Florida A&M on December 12, 2017. In his five seasons on the Highest of Seven Hills, Coach Simmons put together a 45-13, a stark contrast from the putrid 14-43 record the program had posted in the previous 5 seasons before Simmons’ arrival.
He led the Rattlers to four consecutive need nine-win seasons; Simmions was also a two-time AFCA Region 3 Coach of the Year (2022 & 2023) as well as the 2023 SWAC Coach of the Year. It was in 2023 that Florida A&M went 12-1 overall, including 8-0 in SWAC play and a 30-26 defeat of Howard in the Celebration Bowl to claim the HBCU national championship.
Coach Simmons will be introduced at a press conference on Monday at 2 pm EST.
