Clyde Simmons Jr. (born August 4, 1964) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

and current college

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

coach.

Playing career

College

Simmons played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Western Carolina University Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU was founded t ...

helping lead the Catamounts to the 1983

NCAA Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

National Championship game. In 1992 he was inducted into the

Western Carolina Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU was founded t ...

Athletics Hall of Fame.

NFL

Simmons was taken in the 9th round of the

1986 NFL Draft The 1986 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

where he spent 8 seasons (1986-1993). After leaving Philadelphia he went on to play for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

(1994–1995),

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

(1996–1997),

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

(1998), and the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

(1999–2000). He led the NFL with 19 sacks in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and finished his career 11th all time on the NFL sack list, with 121.5. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1991 and 1992. Simmons also returned an

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 b ...

for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

against

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United State ...

and the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

in the 1996

NFL Playoffs The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Currently, seven teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs. A tie-breaki ...

Post-playing career

Simmons began his coaching career in 2008 at Greater Atlanta Christian School as the defensive line coach. In 2010, he accepted an offer from

Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching position ...

as a fellowship coach with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

. Simmons was an assistant defensive line coach for the

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

. The Rams had 217 total sacks during Simmons' tenure. With the Rams, Simmons coached three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle and the 2014

NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...

Aaron Donald, and defensive end Robert Quinn, who set a single-season franchise record with 19 sacks in 2013. In January 2017, he was hired by the Cleveland Browns to coach their defensive line. In 2019 he was hired as a defensive line coach at

Missouri Baptist university Missouri Baptist University (MBU) is a private Southern Baptist university in Creve Coeur, Missouri. It is one of three universities of the Missouri Baptist Convention. The main campus is located on a 68-acre site near Creve Coeur and Town and ...

. In May 2021 he was hired by new

Tennessee State Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennesse ...

head football coach

Eddie George Edward Nathan George Jr. (born September 24, 1973) is an American football coach and former player who is the current head coach at Tennessee State. He played as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, primarily f ...

as the Tigers' defensive line coach.

References

External links

Tennessee State profile
1964 births Living people American football defensive ends Arizona Cardinals players Cleveland Browns coaches Chicago Bears players Cincinnati Bengals players Jacksonville Jaguars players Philadelphia Eagles players Tennessee State Tigers football coaches Western Carolina Catamounts football players National Conference Pro Bowl players People from Williamsburg County, South Carolina Sportspeople from Wilmington, North Carolina Coaches of American football from North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 100 Sacks Club Ed Block Courage Award recipients {{defensive-lineman-1960s-stub