Claude M. "Little Monk" Simons Jr. (January 16, 1914 – January 6, 1975) was 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 ...

player, coach of football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, and college athletics administrator. He 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 ...

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

, where he starred for the

Tulane Green Wave The Tulane Green Wave are the athletic teams that represent Tulane University, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tulane competes in NCAA Division I as a member of the American Athletic Conference (The American). There are 14 Green Wave interco ...

as a halfback. Simons served as the head football coach at

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

from 1935 to 1937 and his alma mater, Tulane, from 1942 to 1945, compiling career college football coaching record of 24–29–2. He was the basketball coach at Tulane from 1938 to 1942, tallying a mark of 19–44. He also had two stints the school's baseball coach, from 1938 to 1941 and 1943 to 1949, amassing a record of 91–69. Simons was the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

at Tulane from 1946 to 1947. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

as player in 1963.

Early life

Simons was born on January 16, 1914, in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and later attended the

Isidore Newman School Isidore Newman School is a private, nondenominational, co-educational college preparatory school located on an campus in the uptown section of New Orleans, Louisiana. Jeré Longman of ''The New York Times'' described Isidore Newman as "one of ...

. Monk Simons College Football Hall of Fame, National Football Foundation, retrieved June 29, 2010. Simons' father, Claude "Monk" Simons Sr., served as the head coach for the Tulane baseball,

, track, and boxing teams, and as the Tulane football team trainer from 1926 until his death in 1943. Simons attended

, where he played football as the team's "star kicking and passing halfback," and earned

varsity letters A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

from 1932 to 1934. During the 1934 season, Simons scored a touchdown in the final three minutes to defeat rival

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

by a single point, causing his mother to faint. Simons helped lead Tulane to a comeback win over

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

in the inaugural Sugar Bowl, 20–14. Simons scored

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

on 75- and 83-yard rushes. Tulane finished with a 10–1 record, and won a share of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

co-championship. The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

selected Simons to its All-America third team. For the season, Simons led the team in rushing, passing, and scoring.''2009 Football Media Guide''
(PDF), p. 48–50, Tulane University, 2009.

Coaching career

Simons served as the head basketball coach for Tulane from 1938 to 1942, during which period his teams amassed a 19–44 record. In 1938, he was also an assistant coach on the Tulane football team. Simons took over as head coach for the 1942 season, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when many college age men were leaving for military service. Tulane finished with a 4–5 record, which was the school's first losing season since 1927. After posting a 3–3 record in 1943, Simons achieved his only winning season the following year, with a 4–3 mark. In 1945, after a 2–2–1 start, Tulane suffered a four-game skid to finish 2–6–1. Simons was replaced as head football coach by

Henry Frnka Henry E. Frnka ( ; March 16, 1903 – December 18, 1980) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at the University of Tulsa from 1941 to 1945 and at Tulane University from 1946 to 195 ...

for the 1946 season, but continued on as the university's

. Simons also served as the Tulane baseball coach from 1938 to 1941 and 1943 to 1949, during which his teams amassed a 92–68 record.''2010 Tulane Record Book''
(PDF), Tulane University, 2010. Under Simons, the baseball team captured the 1948

championship.

Administrative career

In 1956, Simons was elected to a position with the New Orleans Mid-Winter Sports Association, which sponsored the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

, and served as the chairman of the Sugar Bowl basketball tournament committee, a position in which he continued to serve until at least 1966. In 1958 and 1959, Simons was serving as the Association's president. He was still working with the Sugar Bowl in 1972.

Honors

Simons was inducted into the

in 1963, the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame in 1974,Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame
, All State Sugar Bowl, retrieved June 28, 2010. and the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame in 1977.
Tulane University, retrieved June 28, 2010.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Claude 1914 births 1975 deaths American football halfbacks Basketball coaches from Louisiana Transylvania Pioneers football coaches Tulane Green Wave athletic directors Tulane Green Wave baseball coaches Tulane Green Wave football coaches Tulane Green Wave football players Tulane Green Wave men's basketball coaches College Football Hall of Fame inductees Isidore Newman School alumni Coaches of American football from Louisiana Players of American football from New Orleans