Lawrence Simmons
American football and baseball coach (1911–1994)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lawrence E. Simmons (July 5, 1911 – October 9, 1994) was an American football and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Tennessee A&I State College—now known as Tennessee State University—in Nashville, Tennessee in 1939 and again from 1961 to 1962, and at the Colored Normal Industrial Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Carolina—now known as South Carolina State University—in Orangeburg, South Carolina from 1951 to 1952, compiling a career college football coach record of 20–18–3. Simmons also had two stints as the head baseball coach at Tennessee A&I, from 1947 to 1950 and 1953 to 1955.[1][2]
Oklahoma, U.S.
Fairview Heights, Illinois, U.S.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 5, 1911 Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | October 9, 1994 (aged 83) Fairview Heights, Illinois, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1936–1937 | Tennessee State |
| Position | Fullback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1938 | Tennessee State (backfield) |
| 1939 | Tennessee State |
| 1948 | Tennessee A&I (backfield) |
| 1951–1952 | South Carolina State |
| 1953–1954 | Tennessee A&I (assistant) |
| 1955–1960 | East St. Louis Lincoln HS (IL) |
| 1961–1962 | Tennessee A&I |
| Baseball | |
| 1947–1950 | Tennessee A&I |
| 1953–1955 | Tennessee A&I |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 21–18–3 (college football) 43–14 (high school football) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 1 MWAA (1961) | |
Simmons was the head football coach at East St. Louis Lincoln High School in East St. Louis, Illinois from 1955 to 1960, tallying a mark of 43–14.[3]
Simmons and his wife Mildred celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in 1968.[4] He and his wife are interred alongside each other at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Missouri.[5][6]
Head coaching record
College football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee State Tigers (Midwest Athletic Association) (1939) | |||||||||
| 1939 | Tennessee State | 4–3–1 | 1–2 | 5th | |||||
| South Carolina State Bulldogs (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1951–1952) | |||||||||
| 1951 | South Carolina State | 5–2 | 4–2 | T–5th | |||||
| 1952 | South Carolina State | 7–2 | 5–1 | T–2nd | |||||
| South Carolina State: | 12–4 | 9–3 | |||||||
| Tennessee A&I Tigers (Midwest Athletic Association / Midwest Conference) (1961–1962) | |||||||||
| 1961 | Tennessee A&I | 4–4–1 | 3–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1962 | Tennessee A&I | 1–7–1 | 1–1–1 | 3rd | |||||
| Tennessee State/A&I: | 9–14–3 | 5–3–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 21–18–3 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
