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Mike Simmonds is in his third year at North Texas as the offensive line coach.
Last season, Simmonds’s offensive line helped pave the way for the school’s third 2,000-yard rushing season in the last four years.
In addition, the Mean Green offensive line led the nation in allowing the fewest sacks in 2012 with only six sacks given up. Last season, the North Texas offensive line gave up no sacks in nine of 12 games.
The Mean Green had three running backs rush for over 500 yards for the first time in school history. The Mean Green rushed for 2,102 yards on the year, which was the 15th most in school history and the third-most since 2004.
Along with the rushing totals, Simmonds helped produce three all-conference selections on the offensive line. Center Aaron Fortenberry, guards Cyril Lemon and Mason Y’Barbo each earned all-conference honors. Fortenberry was a first-team all-conference pick while Lemon was selected for the second straight season. In three seasons, Simmonds has had seven all-conference honorees.
In 2011, Simmonds’s offensive line paved the way for Lance Dunbar’s record breaking year that saw the running back become the all-time leading rusher and set a school record for rushing yards in a game with 313.
The offensive line also produced two all-conference player in Matt Tomlinson and Cyril Lemon. Lemon was the only true freshman in the league to be on one of the three all-conference teams in the Sun Belt. He is the first freshman offensive lineman to earn all-conference honors at North Texas since 2000.
Lemon is just the second freshman offensive lineman to earn all-conference honors in Sun Belt history. Tomlinson was a first-team all-conference pick, the first of his career.
Simmonds joined the Mean Green after a one-year stint as the offensive line coach at Indiana State in 2010
Simmonds was the offensive line coach at South Florida from 2007-09, where he was on the staff with McCarney and North Texas offensive coordinator Mike Canales. He coached the offensive line at his alma mater Indiana State during the 2010 season.
Behind the 2008 offensive line, the South Florida offense was on the cusp of many program records. USF led the Big East in total offense (405.0 yards per game) and ranked second in scoring offense (27.6). The rushing offense averaged 165.4 yards per game, good for third in the conference.
A graduate of Indiana State University, where he started 46 games and earned I-AA All-America honors, Simmonds was chosen in the 10th round of the 1987 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Simmonds played four seasons in the NFL as an offensive lineman with Tampa Bay and San Diego.
He started for the Bucs at offensive guard in 1989, once earning NFL Offensive Lineman of the Week in a game against Chicago. He signed as a Plan B Free Agent with San Diego in 1990. Simmonds is a 2007 inductee into the Indiana State Hall of Fame for his exploits on the field as a Sycamore.
He played his high school football for Belleville (IL) before enrolling at Indiana State, where his teams reached the I-AA Playoffs in 1983 and 1984.
Since his playing days ended, Simmonds has been named to the Gateway Conference all-decade team (1980s) and the Gateway Conference 20th Anniversary Team, in addition to earning induction into the Indiana State Hall of Fame.
Simmonds and his wife, Jamie (Whiting) have three daughters, Amanda, Lauren and Emily.
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