Florida A&M Head Coach Willie Simmons supposedly agreed to an extension contract with the Rattlers, taking him out of the race to be the next running back coach in South Carolina. Matt Zenitz of AL.com publish the report on Twitter Monday night.
Tony Morrell of TheBigSpur.com reported on Sunday that Simmons was interviewed for the vacant offensive position at the Carolina coach Shane Beamerstaff of. Simmons, a former running back at Clemson and The Citadel, has been Florida A&M’s head coach since 2018.
Gamecocks don’t have a running back trainer because Des Kitchings, who coached the position in 2020, left Columbia for the NFL to become the Atlanta Falcons’ running back coach. Kitchings were set to make $ 420,000 in 2021.
Gamecocks have a lot to offer in terms of personnel in the rear position. Kevin Harris, an All-SEC team, led the SEC in race yards in the regular season of 10 games with 1,138. Ex-running back five stars SeaShawn Lloyd, a freshman, returns to the field in 2021 after suffering a tear in the ACL at the 2020 pre-season camp. South Carolina also has running backs on scholarships Rashad Amos and ZaQuandre White returning from last season, along with the incoming freshman Caleb McDowell.
Stay tuned on TheBigSpur.com to learn more about Beamer’s research to complete his technical team in the field. More about Simmons on his Florida A&M bio page can be read below.
Simmons, a native of Tallahassee, was a phenomenal preparatory athlete at a nearby Quincy (Florida) Shanks High School, before embarking on a stellar college football career that included stints at Clemson University and The Citadel (SC), arrives at Florida A&M University from Prairie View A&M (Tex.) University of Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), where he spent the last three seasons (2015-2017) as a football coach.
During his tenure at Prairie View A&M (PVAMU), Simmons revived the Panthers’ decadent fortune, elevating them to main contender status in the rugged SWAC Western Division, which featured perennial heavyweights from Black College, Grambling State and Southern University.
Simmons drew up a 21-11 overall spreadsheet and a 19-6 league record, highlighted by an 8-2 debut campaign in 2015, which included an 8-1 runner-up in the division for the eventual division champion Grambing State, after losing a sizzling 70-54 wild west shooting at the State Fair Classic in Dallas, Texas.
Simmons had a highly distinguished preparatory career at James Shanks High School in Quincy, earning All-American honors as a quarterback (ranked # 10 quarterback nationally), after leading the Tigers to their first district championship in 22 years, and being named player Big Bend’s offensive of the year after shooting for 2,505 yards and 32 touchdowns.
He received more than 25 scholarship offers, signing with Clemson, where he taught for three years (2000-2002), participating in four bowl games (Peach, Gator, Humanitarian and Tangerine).
He initially moved to Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, FL for his senior season, but after being considered ineligible to compete because FAMU was in provisional status as a Division IA (now FBS) program, he enrolled at The Citadel ( SC), where he won the All Southern Conference First Team honors after taking the Bulldogs to a 6-6 record (the first undefeated season in 10 years). Under Simmons’ leadership, The Citadel also accomplished a feat that had only been done by Marshall University, which was the defeat for Furman, Appalachian State and Georgia Southern in the same season.