Willie Simmons (born October 12, 1980) is the head coach of the Florida A&M Rattlers football team. Simmons was previously the head coach at Prairie View A&M from 2014 to 2017. He has also served as offensive coordinator of the Alcorn State Braves as well as the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders football teams. Simmons played college football at Clemson and The Citadel as a quarterback.
Early life
Willie Román Simmons was born in Tallahassee, Florida, to Willie and Phyllis Simmons. He is the youngest of three children and the only son. He was an All-American quarterback (ranked #10 quarterback nationally) at James A. Shanks High School after leading the Tigers to their first district championship in 22 years and being named Big Bend Offensive Player of the Year after throwing for 2,505 yards and 32 touchdowns. He received over 25 scholarship offers, and after narrowing his college choices down to Florida State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, and Miami, he signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Clemson to play for former head coach Tommy Bowden. Simmons lettered three years at Clemson (2000–2002) and participated in four bowl games (Peach, Gator, Humanitarian, and Tangerine). Simmons earned his Bachelor of Science degree in services (sports) marketing from Clemson in the spring of 2002, just 3 years after he enrolled, which is the fastest any football player has ever graduated from the university. He initially transferred to Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, FL for his senior season, but after being deemed ineligible to compete because FAMU was in provisional status as a Division I-A (now FBS) program, he enrolled at The Citadel, where he garnered All Southern Conference First Team honors after leading the Bulldogs to a 6–6 record (their first non-losing season in 10 years). The Bulldogs also accomplished a feat that had only been done by Marshall, which was defeat Furman, Appalachian State, and Georgia Southern in the same season. After Simmons' college career, he played one season of arena football in the United Indoor Football League for the Sioux City Bandits, where he played alongside future NFL running back Fred Jackson.
Coaching career
Simmons began his coaching career in 2005 at Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Florida, where he coached the quarterbacks and was also the pass game coordinator. There, he had the opportunity to coach former NFL and South Florida Bulls quarterback B.J. Daniels. After one season, he was brought back to his alma mater Clemson as a graduate assistant coach, working with the quarterbacks.
Middle Tennessee State
After one season at Clemson, Simmons was offered the position of running backs coach at Middle Tennessee State by head coach Rick Stockstill, who recruited Simmons to Clemson. Entering the 2010 season, after three seasons as the running backs coach, Simmons was promoted to Pass Game Coordinator. The following season, he was promoted to offensive coordinator. At the age of 30, he was one of the youngest coordinators at the FBS level. During his time as offensive coordinator, the Blue Raiders were ranked 20th nationally in total offense, while leading the Sun Belt Conference in total offense, rushing offense, and third-down conversion percentage, and ranking second in passing offense.