Personal: The 2007 football season will mark Simmons' second year as a member of the current Winston-Salem State University football coaching staff. He is no stranger to the Rams' program as he has served as a member of the WSSU coaching staff two times prior to his current tenure.

Simmons was a member of the coaching staff in 1976-77 as a student assistant, and then resumed a full-time coaching career for the Rams in 1989 under then-head-coach Pete Richardson.

Simmons will focus primarily upon the Rams' defensive line and he will inherit a talented defensive front with several big, strong athletes who have the very real possibility of earning postseason honors. In addition to his on-field coaching responsibilities, he will serve as the Rams' community service liason and will continue to direct WSSU football's efforts in the community.

Simmons comes to WSSU by way of Allen University (Columbia, SC) where he served as the head football coach for four seasons.

Prior to his duties at Allen University, Simmons served as the Defensive Coordinator at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA for four seasons (1999-2002). He was instrumental in the improvement of Morehouse's program from a last place finish in 1998 to a runner-up finish in 2000. Before his four seasons at Morehouse, Simmons was a member of the coaching staff at North Carolina A&T State University (1998-99).

In the last 15 years, he has been a member of the coaching staff at Johnson C. Smith University (1995-1998), Southern University (1993-95) and Northwestern State University (1990-93) as he has a total of 28 seasons of collegiate coaching experience.

A member of the United States Army Special Forces for three years (1973-76), Simmons will help to reinforce the discipline associated with the WSSU football program. He and his wife of 21 years Pamela, a PhD in English and a a native of Albany, GA, reside in Winston-Salem, NC. She is currently employed as an Assistant Professor of English at WSSU.