’Canes ‘fired up’ for Sun Bowl

Jess Simpson has not been a head coach since his days at Buford High School in Georgia.

For the remainder of December, at least, Simpson is a head coach once again — this time as interim head coach for the Miami Hurricanes as they prepare for their bowl game against Washington State. The Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl will be played on Dec. 31 (noon, CBS) in El Paso, Texas.

“We’re fired up about this opportunity,’’ said Simpson, who started the season as UM’s assistant head coach and defensive line coach. At least he was successful in his last stint as a head coach, leading the Buford Wolves to seven state championships and winning 164 of his 176 games there over 12 years. Since then, he has been an assistant coach at Auburn, Georgia State and with the Atlanta Falcons, aside from his work at UM.

“This is such a huge deal. If you’re a player or a coach, every Saturday to get to tee it up, you’ll never be able to minimize that to me. … We’re approaching this like the big-time game that it is.”

Simpson takes over after Miami fired head coach Manny Diaz on Monday. The next day, Oregon coach Mario Cristobal was hired, but he’s not focused on the bowl game. So that leaves Simpson and the remaining coaching staff charged with getting the team ready for its third trip to the Sun Bowl since 2010.

In each of the three times Miami has played in the Sun Bowl — losses to Notre Dame (2010) and Washington State (2015) — it has been led by an interim coach.

So, that is where Cristobal’s focus is right now.

The team has been practicing for the bowl, and Simpson says their attitude could not be better.

“Our practice last Saturday morning, our kids were flying around, having a blast,” Simpson said. “Every time we get back together … these kids just light up. This team loves each other, love to be together. I know the energy and the juice and the preparation that’s going into this game. We’re excited as coaches and they’re excited to play it, I can assure you.”