Matt Simon (born December 6, 1953) is an

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 ...

coach and former player. He is currently a Defensive and Special Teams Analyst with the University of Maryland Terrapins. Prior to arriving at UMD, Simon was the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

for the

Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football program Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

,from 2017 to 2019. Simon has previously coached in the collegiate ranks,most notably as head coach at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

from 1994 to 1997. Simon is one of only ten football coaches to win both an NCAA Division I-A/FBS national championship (with Washington in 1991) and a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

(with the Baltimore Ravens in 2000). Born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

, Simon grew up in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

. He attended

Burges High School Burges is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alan Burges (1911–2002), Australian botanist * Anthony Burges (or Burgess; d. 1664), English Nonconformist clergyman *Cornelius Burges (1589?–1665), English minister * Daniel Burg ...

where he was a three-sport standout in football,

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. He earned four letters as a linebacker for the

Eastern New Mexico University Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU or Eastern) is a public university with a main campus in Portales, New Mexico, and two associate degree-granting branches, one at Ruidoso and one at Roswell. ENMU is New Mexico's largest regional comprehensi ...

Greyhounds and was later inducted into the ENMU Hall of Honors. Immediately following his playing career, Simon began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater. After one year as an assistant at

Borger High School Borger may refer to: * Borger (name), a surname and given name * Borger, Netherlands *Borger, Texas, U.S. See also * * Boorger * Börger * Borge (disambiguation) * Børge * Burger (disambiguation) Burger or Burgers may refer to: Food and ...

, Simon coached the

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

positions at the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

under head coach Bill Michael. In 1982, he became

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

s and

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

s coach at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. The

Huskies Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

went to nine

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

s over a span of ten seasons. In 1991, the Huskies tied the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

for the national championship. In 1997, Simon was inducted into the University of Washington's Hall of Fame. Simon left Washington in 1992 for the offensive coordinator position at

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

under head coach

Dennis Franchione Dennis Wayne Franchione (born March 28, 1951), also known as Coach Fran, is a retired American football coach. He is the former head football coach at Texas State University, a position he held from 1990 to 1991, when the school w ...

. The

Lobos Lobos is the headquarters city of the Lobos Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on 2 June 1802 by José Salgado. Background Located 100 km from Buenos Aires, Lobos is currently a fertile agricultural area known ma ...

averaged 413 yards and 30.5 points per game during that span. They ranked 13th in the country in 1992 and improved to 8th the following year. Simon succeeded

Dennis Parker Dennis Parker (born March 23, 1950) is an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of North Texas from 1991 to 1993 and at Texas Lutheran University from 2007 to 2009, compiling a career college football r ...

as head coach at North Texas in 1994, becoming only the 10th

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

to lead a

Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

football squad. In his first season, Simon guided North Texas to the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

Championship. He was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year, Black Coaches Association National Football Coach of the Year and AFCA Region 4 Coach of the Year. Simon resigned in January,1998 because of scheduling differences with the athletic administration. Simon believed the proposed 1998 non conference schedule put too many North Texas football players at risk for injury. After coaching at the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

training camp and volunteering through the 1998–1999 season, Simon began his pro coaching career with the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

. Under his guidance, Baltimore rushed for an average of 1,985 yards per season and defeated the

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

Super Bowl XXXV Super Bowl XXXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

following the

2000 NFL season The 2000 NFL season was the 81st regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXXV when the Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants, 34–7, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Week 1 of the s ...

. In 2004, the Ravens’ ground attack produced 2,063 total yards and ranked 9th in the NFL. It was

Jamal Lewis Jamal Lewis (born August 26, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. He played college football at Tennessee and was s ...

's fourth 1,000-yard rushing season under Simon. Baltimore rushed for at least 2,000 yards in three different seasons under Simon, including a team-record 2,674 yards in 2003 when Jamal Lewis was named

NFL Offensive Player of the Year The National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award is an annual American football award given by various organizations to the National Football League (NFL) player who is considered the top offensive player during the regular season. Or ...

, and Associated Press All-Pro and selected to the AFC Pro Bowl. In 2006, Matt Simon resigned from the Ravens to pursue other opportunities in the NFL because of uncertainties with former Head Coach Brian Billick's tenor with the team. Simon's success with running backs continued during his time with the San Diego Chargers in the 2007–08 season. He helped lead LaDainian Tomlinson to his second NFL rushing title while coaching Pro Bowl Fullback, Lorenzo Neal and RB, Darren Sproles. In 2011 Simon joined the coaching staff at the University of Buffalo. During his tenor at UB, Simon coached three All- Conference Running Backs and two All- Conference Punters and Kicker. One of those All- Conference RBs, Branden Oliver, broke

James Starks James Darell Starks (born February 25, 1986) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Buffalo and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He was a member of their Super Bo ...

' single season school rushing record at the University at Buffalo in 2011 with Simon as his coach.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Matt 1953 births Living people American football linebackers Baltimore Ravens coaches Buffalo Bulls football coaches Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football coaches Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds football coaches Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds football players New Mexico Lobos football coaches North Texas Mean Green football coaches San Diego Chargers coaches UTEP Miners football coaches Washington Huskies football coaches High school football coaches in Ohio High school football coaches in Texas Players of American football from Akron, Ohio Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from El Paso, Texas African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football African-American male track and field athletes 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople