Bob Simmons obit

Bob Simmons, former Oklahoma State football coach, dies at 77

 

He was not on the list.

Former Oklahoma State football coach Bob Simmons tied on Tuesday, the school announced.

He was 77.

Specifics of his death are not yet known.

Simmons, who was the first and only Black head football coach at Oklahoma State, spent six seasons leading the Cowboys. The school hired him ahead of the 1995 campaign to replace Pat Jones, who had managed just two conference wins over the past four seasons combined.

Simmons led the Cowboys to an 8-4 record in 1997. They reached as high as No. 12 in the national rankings that season and earned a trip to the Alamo Bowl, which was the program’s only bowl appearance under his watch and the school’s first in nearly a decade. Simmons earned Big 12 Coach of the Year honors that season, too.

In total, Simmons finished with a 30-38 record over his six seasons with the Cowboys. He parted with the program after the 2000 season, and was eventually replaced by Les Miles.

That marked Simmons’ only head coaching stop in his career, though he spent decades as an assistant throughout the sport, and was on staff as the linebackers coach at Colorado in 1990 when the Buffaloes won the national championship. Simmons also spent time on staff at Notre Dame, Washington, Toledo and West Virginia.

He served as the head football coach at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater from 1995 to 2000, compiling a record of 30–38 and being named the Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year in 1997. In 2013, he was hired as the head football coach at Boulder High School in Boulder, Colorado.

 

Biographical details

Born    June 13, 1948

Livingston, Alabama, U.S.

Died    June 9, 2026 (aged 77)

Playing career

1968–1970      Bowling Green

Position           Linebacker

Coaching career (HC unless noted)

1976    Bowling Green (WR)

1977–1979      Toledo (OLB)

1980–1987      West Virginia (OLB)

1988–1991      Colorado (OLB)

1992–1994      Colorado (DL)

1995–2000      Oklahoma State

2002–2004      Notre Dame (LB)

2005–2007      Washington (TE/ST)

2013–2015      Boulder HS (CO)

Head coaching record

Overall            30–38 (college)

10–19 (high school)

Bowls  0–1

Accomplishments and honors

Awards

Big 12 Coach of the Year (1997)