Straight shooter
Honesty the foundation for Harding’s coach
When sitting down and talking with Harding football Coach Paul Simmons, it never takes long to realize that fluff isn’t exactly his forte.
It’s not his method of choice when describing a hard or intense practice session for team, it’s not the way he expresses his opinions about any opponent, and it’s certainly not his style whenever he offers up an assessment on what his Bisons need to employ to be successful on a weekly basis.
Also, it doesn’t take long for Simmons to pull off that proverbial mask that many collegiate coaches don over the course of a season where frustration, exhaustion or discouragement can sometimes seep in.
It’s usually somewhere between ‘Hello’ and ‘How’s everything’ when the Ashdown native — by way of the African country of Zambia — reveals his true self, his true feelings on just about anything he’s asked.
“In every aspect of my relationship with Coach Simmons, what I most appreciate is his honesty,” said Harding Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information Scott Goode, who’s worked at the university for more than two decades. “I never have to wonder what he’s thinking. I know he’s always going to be straight with me.”
A straight shooter is basically who Simmons is regardless of the direction a conversation is heading. What you see is what you get from a man who glows when he speaks about his Christian faith or the unconditional love he and his team has for one another. He’s also about as candid and direct as they come in a profession that sometimes reeks of disingenuity and cynicism.
“Paul Simmons is a great football coach. But more importantly to me, he is an even better man. He is a man that puts God first, a family man that loves his wife and children. He’s an inspiration to me.”
Voice of the Bisons play-by-play announcer Billy Morgan
That straightforward approach has had a profound effect on Simmons’ Bisons, who utilized that same unswerving and forthright mentality throughout 2023 to help put together the greatest season any team in the state has ever had in NCAA Division II football.
Harding shattered program record after program record, from scoring 97 total touchdowns to beating five teams that were ranked in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25. The Bisons even sculpted their name into the national database when they became the first team in college football history to run for at least 6,000 yards in a single season.
The latter milestone was made more significant because it was achieved during Harding’s finest moment on a field. The Bisons rushed for more than 500 yards in beating Colorado School of Mines 38-7 on Dec. 16 to officially claim the national championship in front of almost 13,000 spectators in McKinney, Texas.
Not only did the Bisons set that standard for rushing while plowing down an Orediggers unit that was previously unbeaten and rarely tested during the final, but they also set themselves apart from fellow Great American Conference counterparts because they became the first Arkansas team to capture a Division II football title.
But in true Simmons’ fashion, the first words that came out of his mouth during the postgame news conference didn’t have a lot to do with the dominance his team flashed on that Saturday afternoon. Instead, the bulk of his initial comments centered on a mistake he felt he made the day before when he came up with the idea to have an impromptu graduation celebration at the team’s hotel for his players that missed the school’s commencement exercises.
He thought the event, which also turned into a quasi-pep rally filled with Harding alumni and supporters, would serve as a distraction for his group going in, but the frenzy was essentially a precursor to the chaos the Bisons created less than 24 hours later at McKinney ISD Stadium.
That 31-point beating was the icing on a cake that Harding began baking months before. Simmons, who’s 65-13 in six seasons at the helm, had a hunch that this year would be a good one for his team after they were passed over for a playoff berth in 2022.
Of course, there was no way he, or anyone else, could predict what the Bisons would eventually do, especially in a system that has its share of detractors. Simmons simply believed that what he instilled in his team and his staff have been doing would continue to work in their favor.
Harding’s Flexbone is one of the more unique offenses in football simply because it’s a rarity. Wide-open, pass-happy systems are a national treasure nowadays, but Simmons has heard just about everything there is to hear about the drawbacks of playing ground-and-pound football.
“People love to attack the Flexbone because it’s not cool, it’s not fancy,” Simmons said after his team ran for 431 yards in the semifinals against Lenoir-Rhyne. “I can promise you this, when I’m choosing an offensive or defensive style or whatever else, the thing that I want to be about is winning the ballgame. Running the Flexbone is pretty good if you care about winning.
“One of the main features about it is that you’ve got to be unselfish. … it fits who we want to be. The toughness, the discipline, the unselfishness.”
But that negativity has done little to force him to deviate from the way the Bisons play. He’s upfront with his recruits about what they do and what their expectations are when it comes to playing for his team. Simmons has spoken about the selflessness it takes to be a part of Harding. In all actuality, he embodies it, as evidenced by the worries he had pertaining to the rally he put together before the championship game.
The Bisons have stuck with what has worked for years, and it’s always paid dividends. This past season, 12 players rushed for triple-digit yardage, with Blake Delacruz and Braden Jay each running for more than 1,000 yards. Also, 13 different players had at least one touchdown on the ground.
All of that added up to a perfect 11-0 regular season and then a 4-0 postseason run that included wins over the No. 2-, 3- and 4-ranked teams by a combined 100-27.
After Harding took out Colorado School of Mines, Simmons mentioned that what the Bisons had done was surreal to him. By looking at their numbers, what Harding accomplished seemed almost nightmarish.
The Bisons, who also possessed the fifth-rated defense Division II, outscored their 15 opponents 703-163, out-snapped teams 943-799, rushed for 6,161 yards and held a 346-186 edge in first downs.
Yet, there’s no Crystal Lake situated on Harding’s campus in Searcy. The Bisons never played a game on the 13th of any month — let alone a Friday — this past season and they didn’t take machetes into their encounters with other teams.
And the only mask that Simmons wore is the same one he’s adorned since he joined the Harding staff in 2006. The only difference is that when he unveils himself, it’s generally a matter of seconds before it becomes obvious who he is.
“Paul Simmons is a great football coach,” said Billy Morgan, who’s been the play-by-play announcer and the Voices of the Bisons for the Harding Sports Network since 2007. “But more importantly to me, he is an even better man. He is a man that puts God first, a family man that loves his wife and children. He’s an inspiration to me.
“Just being around him encourages me to be a better Christian man, father and husband.”
The aspect that Morgan alluded to is seemingly what drives Simmons.
“The day one message [to the team] is that it’s not about you,” he explained. “It’s not about me, it’s about us, it’s about the brotherhood, it’s about being together. The leaders-eat-last mentality is so crucial to us.
“The message in the [championship] pregame was what brings more honor to God than giving your very best to be completely exhausted. And to do it because you love somebody. That’s the example that came from Christ. I’m going to give all I have because I love you. That’s how we want to live, but it’s hard to get guys to buy in to that.”
That buy in starts immediately when Simmons and his staff set out to recruit future Bisons. He admits that a player’s character is the most enticing facet he seeks because it directly correlates to having the teamfirst mindset he craves.
It’s apparent that Simmons has been spot on on recruitment more times than not because he won 83% percent of his games at Harding, including nine or more in each of his six seasons. He’s also had well over 60 players receive Great American Conference accolades and countless others who earned All-American distinctions.
But what means more to him than any of that is what happens to his players when they have hang up their cleats and move on.
This year, 80% of his team has a 3.0 grade-point average or better, with 15% of those having at least a 4.0. As a whole, the Bisons’ cumulative GPA is right at a 3.3, and 12 of his players were slated to walk at graduation on the same day as the national title game. Those numbers, on the surface, bode well for those players’ future endeavors.
“The memories, the life lessons,” Simmons said. “I want my young men to be awesome daddies. I want them to come through. I’ve got so many that come from broken homes, that have fathers that weren’t there. I’m telling them all the time that ‘Hey, that’s not going to be us.’
“We’re going to come through. We’re going to have a generation of men who come through for their families, and we’re not going to give in. We’re not going to give in when it gets tough.”
That’s precisely what Simmons has done with the Bisons, particularly in 2023. Harding endured several peerless moments, namely during the first two rounds of the postseason. But the mental state that’s been drilled into their psyche by their forthright coach may have been the deciding factor in what ultimately got them over the hump.
That frame of mind epitomizes Simmons as well. His demeanor screams that of a guy who takes what the world has to offer and uses it in a way that stays in line with his faith.
Whether it’s his Flexbone offense, his talks with recruits’ families, interview sessions with the media or speaking engagements outside of football, Simmons makes sure he keeps everything in perspective, and no sugarcoating is needed.
“We’re trying to impact and raise up men,” he said. “That is so much more important to us than a national championship.”