Dennis Simmons Joining Mike Leach's Staff To Coach Marquess Wilson And Friends
by Brian Floyd on Dec 12, 2011 3:53 PM PST
in 2011 WSU Football News
Email
PrintI've saved one of the best, and perhaps most important, of Mike Leach's known hires for last. Dennis Simmons comes to Washington State from East Carolina, where he coached the outside receivers under head coach Ruffin McNeill. Like the rest of the assistants on the offensive side of the ball, Simmons is part of the family, having been with Leach at Tech from the beginning.
Interestingly enough, Simmons didn't transition into an on-field role until near the end of Leach's tenure at Texas Tech, coaching the receivers in 2008 and 2009 before leaving to take the same position at East Carolina in 2010. Prior to his on-field job, Simmons worked as Leach's chief of staff for two years, a position Dave Emerick will assume with the Cougars, and handled other off-field responsibilities, including recruiting and quality control.
But given the chance to shine while working with the receivers, Simmons excelled. Yes, he had the benefit of a superb receiving corps, headed by Michael Crabtree, but his work with the personnel group as a whole was outstanding. The Texas Tech wide receivers turned in jaw-dropping numbers under his leadership as the Red Raiders passing attack excelled.
Leach and Simmons clearly have a long-standing relationship and built-in trust, having worked closely together at Texas Tech. As we've mentioned before, it's a common theme throughout his offensive staff, which does resemble somewhat of a family.
Two interesting notes from his bio at East Carolina:
Simmons' '08 group, led by Crabtree's 97 receptions, 1,165 yards and 19 touchdowns, accounted for 31 of the team's 47 receiving touchdowns. The 31 scores by the wide receivers alone were more than 107 Division I teams' total receiving touchdowns a year earlier.
In 2009, he, along with inside receivers coach Lincoln Riley, transformed walk-on Alex Torres into a Freshman All-America selection after a team-leading 67-catch, 806-yard, six-touchdown performance.
In other words, it should be ridiculously fun watching Marquess Wilson and the rest of the receiving corps this coming season. In Wilson, Simmons already has a receiver with unlimited potential coming off another incredibly productive year. And there's plenty of raw talent on the roster waiting to be tapped.
With Simmons handling the outside receivers and Eric Morris working with the inside guys, the Cougars are in good hands. Now just sit back and watch the show as Simmons goes to work, squeezing even more production out of Wilson and company.
43 comments
|
2 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
And remember
that Crabtree was a quarterback in high school, but Leach saw his potential as a receiver and trained him as such and he is doing quite well with the 49ers. Maybe Wilson has even more potential, especially if honed properly.
Kristoff Williams like your comment.
"Well that's a stupid question" | CougCenter member since 9/2/2008
by SoCalCoug on Dec 12, 2011 4:59 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I have a problem with this.
Yes, Crabtree was a QB in high school. But so are a lot of kids. Also, almost all the recruiting services had him listed as a WR. It’s not like Leach recruiting him as a QB and was genius enough to move him to wideout. He had offers from other schools to play WR, too.
by Kyle Rancourt on Dec 12, 2011 5:04 PM PST up reply actions
Good point....Crabtree wasn't necessarily a "convert"
At the high school level, alot of times you just put your best athlete at QB. In fact, you have college QB’s like Randel El, Cribbs, and Edelman who were QBs at the college get drafted as receivers in the Pros because of their athleticism without really being “converted.” The best thing Simmons has going for him in concern to Crabtree is that he will be able to flaunt to recruits that he coached him. A high school kid’s ears will perk up when they hear that name.
But...
Crabtree wasn’t interested in being a WR; he wanted to be a QB. Leach recruited him as a QB and transitioned him to a WR. Bottom line: Leach was able to get Crabtree.
Die-hard Texas Tech girl & new Cougar (fan)! Bring it!
I find this hard to believe.
Not to mention he said this:
"That is the hardest part I think for the coaches. I mean I think my best position in college is going to be wide receiver. Some are talking to me about playing on defense and that’s cool but I think I would probably make a better receiver."
That doesn’t sound like a guy who “wasn’t interested in being a WR;”
Does Leach get credit for signing the kid? Sure, absolutely. He was a 2 star, and wound up being one of the best WRs ever. But let’s not pretend he only wanted to play QB and only the genius of Mike Leach turned him into a pass catcher.
He also had offers to play WR from Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas.
by Kyle Rancourt on Dec 12, 2011 10:24 PM PST up reply actions
I don't know Kyle
The guys who were TT fans through the whole deal may know something you don’t.
And that's fine.
but you can’t say something like “Crabtree wasn’t interested in being a WR; he wanted to be a QB.” without providing sources. Otherwise it’s just hearsay.
I said that it was bogus, provided multiple sources of information, but they might know something I don’t? This isn’t a me vs. Tech fans thing, this is all in the interest of accuracy. If someone finds an article where it says he absolutely does not want to be anything other than a QB, great. But the article I linked to already kinda debunked that, no?
by Kyle Rancourt on Dec 12, 2011 10:49 PM PST up reply actions
Hey Guys: Former Tech Fan Here.
I never really heard that he wanted to be a QB coming in.
Leach has had these situations before though, most notably Robert Johnson (‘04ish – ’06ish). “RoJo” as we called him came into the program as one of the top JUCO QB’s in the nation. He was expected to break all kinds of passing records etc. However, he was not coachable to the system. He wanted to take off running too much like a Vince Young type. He got a bad attitude and was going to be benched behind Sophmore Graham Harrell. Well, he straightened up his act and they moved him to wide reciever. He became one of the most outstanding wide recievers of the program.
Check out this game winning TD from Graham Harrell with :26 seconds left, at Texas A&M: a game in which RoJo had 12 receptions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wehY8A_AteE
(it’s always fun watching 86,000 people go silent!!)
Conclusion: Can the Mike Leach resgime transform a great Athletic QB, who wanted to play QB, into a great wide reciever?? YES. Did Crabtree want to come to Tech to play WR? I don’t think that was his motive. In fact, as some of you may know, Crabtree was a highly recruited basketball player as well. I belive the true story is that he was actually recruited to Tech by Bobby Knight and came for a basketball visit. Then was invited to meet Coach Leach and check out the football program. The rest is history.
It should also be noted that the Tech Administration was doing everything they could to try and make Tech a Basketball Power. Then AD Gerald Myers was a former Tech basketball player and coach. I’m sure Mike getting a basketball recruit really got under their skin: even IF Crabtree became arguably the best College WR in history and the only 2 time Belitnikoff Award winner. (and this was all as a Freshman and Sophmore)
Just some insights..
No he wasn't.
He lost a year of eligibility when his high school’s academics didn’t meet NCAA regs. He was able to practice and was a beast in Leach’s Thursday Night Games for the non roster players
It's from Double T Double Cross
You are right, Kyle. He didn’t specifically say, “I don’t want to be a WR”. I will retract that statement. But he wanted to sign as a QB, I can’t find a source on that but it was pretty common knowledge at the time (not being snarky, just what was said/understood at the time – could be wrong though since I can’t link to a source). Tech did recruit him as a QB. He did not transition to WR until Leach saw the potential and made the suggestion. See quote in bold below:
Page 27:
“Four examples of Leach’s recruiting acumen are Michael Crabtree, Matt Williams, Wes Welker, and Danny Amendola. Crabtree played quarterback at David W. Carter High School in Dallas and experienced more recruiting action than the usual Tech player. The University of Texas courted him, though with the caveat that the would convert him into a defensive back. Texas A&M, Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Illinois all wanted to sign him either as quarterback or as an ‘athlete’ with a position to be determined.
Leach won the recruiting wars and signed Crabtree as a quarterback. According to a June 2011 interview with Crabtree, “On my first day of practice Leach noted my abilities to catch the football and I began to work as a wide receiver.” For Crabtree, who later summarized that he, “wanted to score touchdowns,” it was an excellent decision.
Additionally, here is a link that shows who recruited & made offers to Crabtree, when he visited schools (he only visited Kansas & Tech) and when he signed:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/texastech/football/recruiting/player-Michael-Crabtree-39601
Die-hard Texas Tech girl & new Cougar (fan)! Bring it!
by Austin, Tx on Dec 13, 2011 11:26 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Ok
but Rivals has him listed as a 4 star recruit in that link. That kind of flies in the face of all of this “Mike Leach finds hidden gems” talk, no?
My whole point was that there was this story being built up that Leach was the only one who saw him as a WR, and that he was a QB no one wanted. I love Leach, but I just dislike when people get credit for things they shouldn’t get credit for.
The most likely scenario is that almost everyone thought of him as an “Athlete” with a final position undecided (which happens all the time). Then they gave him a shot at QB because he expressed interest. Once they figured he would excel at WR, they moved him there, and he had no problem with it. That’s not necessarily Leach being a genius, but rather being a good coach. These are things good coaches do. Put their players in a position to succeed.
by Kyle Rancourt on Dec 13, 2011 11:45 AM PST up reply actions
Links please!
Who said Leach was the only one who saw him as a WR? I said he was the one who landed him by signing him as a QB & then transitioned him to a WR. Never said he was the only one who saw the potential. I said he was the only one who got it done.
Maybe you’re referencing someone or someone else who was building up that story.
And yes, signing a player as an “athlete” with position undetermined happens all the time. It seems that’s not what Crabtree was looking for. Absolutely agree that good coaches put their players in a position to succeed. (Side note: bad coaches do the opposite, see Tommy Tuberville).
The genius is in landing an athlete of this caliber when others don’t. Especially big schools with far more resources and, though it sticks in my throat to say it I will, prestigious programs.
Die-hard Texas Tech girl & new Cougar (fan)! Bring it!
Well..
If My Life Is Great, Why Am I Not Happy?
by well you win some and lose others on Dec 13, 2011 11:56 AM PST up reply actions
You notice on his senior year data is missing?
If My Life Is Great, Why Am I Not Happy?
by well you win some and lose others on Dec 13, 2011 12:27 PM PST up reply actions
No I didn't...
I’ll have to go back & look again…thanks.
Die-hard Texas Tech girl & new Cougar (fan)! Bring it!
Wait, you're asking me for links?
To what? I shot down the implication that Leach was the only one who saw him as a WR. If you’re saying he’s not the only one who saw him as a WR, then what exactly is your point? That more than one school saw him as a WR? Ok, if that’s the case, then why are we crediting Leach for something other schools saw as well?
by Kyle Rancourt on Dec 13, 2011 1:23 PM PST up reply actions
I think you are being unnecessarily argumentative
That is why I asked for links. What story is being built up? My one post in which I never said Leach was the only one who saw him as a WR? If you are referencing others who are building up this story then I would like to see the links.
If not, then let it go.
At the end of the day what I credit Leach most for is landing Crabtree. That was the bottom line in my original post.
Die-hard Texas Tech girl & new Cougar (fan)! Bring it!
The original comment was
“And remember that Crabtree was a quarterback in high school, but Leach saw his potential as a receiver and trained him as such and he is doing quite well with the 49ers. Maybe Wilson has even more potential, especially if honed properly.”
I stepped in and said this was a bit misleading, and then showed why. You decided to chime in with:
“But… Crabtree wasn’t interested in being a WR; he wanted to be a QB. Leach recruited him as a QB and transitioned him to a WR. Bottom line: Leach was able to get Crabtree.”
I proved that your assessment was simply not true.
I’m not being unnecessarily argumentative. I’m showing that the whole ‘Crabtree was a QB in HS and no one wanted him as a WR, but Leach is a genius for getting him when no one else wanted him’ thing is completely misleading, if not completely false.
Not sure why you’d ask me for links when it’s part of the threaded discussion. And yes, I get that you’re crediting Leach for landing Crabtree. I think this is fair. However, you also mention that a ton of other BCS schools were in on him, so it’s not like he was someone no one has ever heard of. He was a sought after recruit.
Basically, it boils down to this: I’m absolutely ok with giving Leach credit where it is due. He landed Crabtree. That’s the important part. However, people have been using Crabtree as a “this is why Leach is a great recruiter, he finds guys no one else wants at different positions” example that doesn’t fit. He wasn’t a guy no one knew about. He wasn’t being recruited as a QB. So I credit Leach for getting a guy with very little experience at WR and turning him into an all-time great. But I don’t credit him for seeing something no one else did.
by Kyle Rancourt on Dec 13, 2011 1:58 PM PST up reply actions
a bit late but
my statement quoted above, conforms to the facts as we know them; Crabtree was a QB in HS and when Leach saw his potential as a receiver, he was moved there. Nothing in my statement infers that Leach was the sole and only person to recognize Crab’s qualities in one position or another. Nor have I seen anyone else make such claims. So, you have not ‘shot down’ my statement, you have been unnecessarily argumentative for your own purposes.
by bilesteve on Dec 13, 2011 10:34 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Scout has been known
to revise their ratings well after the fact, so I’m assuming Rivals wouldn’t be above doing the same. Besides that, I’m not sure how a hs qb gets rated as a 4* wr, anyways, when there’s no film on them as a wr. Just sayin’.
#CougHarmonyOnTwitter #teamnopants
by TiltingRight on Dec 13, 2011 12:38 PM PST up reply actions
"Athlete" with position to be determined offers
from a couple of the schools. They may have talked WR but I couldn’t find any links on Crabtree’s recruitment that specified WR positions.
To follow up on blackbeard’s post about being Crabtree being redshirted his freshman year (due to a transcript glitch and changing position to WR) here is this quote from wikipedia:
Michael Crabtree was redshirted his freshman season of 2006 due to a transcript glitch and a position change from QB to WR.6
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crabtree
Which quotes Dennis Simmons his position coach at Tech from this article:
Simmons called Crabtree into his office one day with some bad news: A transcript glitch meant he’d have to sit out the season. Crabtree broke down and cried.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?page=hotread2/crabtree
I am now a referencing machine!!
Die-hard Texas Tech girl & new Cougar (fan)! Bring it!
I already posted multiple links showing he was being recruited as a WR.
Scout is the main one, but if you look at all of the stories in the left hand column of his scout page, almost all of them say “WR Michael Crabtree”. A few mention him being an athlete, but I’d say it was pretty well known he was going to be a WR.
by Kyle Rancourt on Dec 13, 2011 11:48 AM PST up reply actions
Well Scout doesn't even list all the schools that were interested in him
So I guess we could go back and forth on this all day or just agree to disagree. I’m happy to agree to disagree. :-)
Die-hard Texas Tech girl & new Cougar (fan)! Bring it!
Scout also referenced
adam james as a male, so there is proof that they make mistakes
i'm back bitches.....................deal with it.
by blackbeard on Dec 13, 2011 12:34 PM PST up reply actions 6 recs
Flagged.
(and rec’d)
#CougHarmonyOnTwitter #teamnopants
by TiltingRight on Dec 13, 2011 12:35 PM PST up reply actions
What?
No. I’m not agreeing to disagree just because Scout doesn’t list all of his potential offers. Rivals listed him as a 4 star, so if you go off of that, Crabtree was in no way an under-the-radar type guy.
You can’t have it both ways.
by Kyle Rancourt on Dec 13, 2011 1:25 PM PST up reply actions
Also
what does listing the schools offering him have to do with anything? Does that not make my point stronger?
The whole point of this was to show that Crabtree being a hidden gem who was a QB converted to a WR by Leach is a farce. He was a well known recruit, and almost everyone projected him as a WR. This is not speculation or just my opinion.
by Kyle Rancourt on Dec 13, 2011 1:27 PM PST up reply actions
My point about sources
is that they can differ so much. You can choose to reference a particular one, I can choose to reference another and we can come back with conflicting information.
By saying let’s agree to disagree I mean you are not going to change my mind. I am not going to change yours. You have the sources you believe and I have the sources I believe.
How about we just quit kickin’ the horse? It’s dead already.
Die-hard Texas Tech girl & new Cougar (fan)! Bring it!
The thing is, though
the conflicting part of the information isn’t relevant. What differences were there between Scout and Rivals?
Crabtree was a 2 star WR on Scout. Crabtree was a 4 star ATH on Rivals.
Crabtree had offers from Texas Tech, Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas according to Scout. Crabtree had offers from Texas Tech, Baylor, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M.
How does any of that change the fact that Crabtree wasn’t seen as a QB, and that Leach was the only one who saw his talent?
This isn’t beating a dead horse. If you come into an argument with the idea “you’re not going to change my mind” like you’ve stated, this is not the place for you. If someone can show me that Crabtree only wanted to be a QB or that he wasn’t recruited heavily, I’ll say I was wrong. But so far, I’ve shown the opposite. I’m not sure how agreeing to disagree has any merit when I’ve shown pretty clearly that the misconception about Leach/Crabtree was overstated and more or less false.
by Kyle Rancourt on Dec 13, 2011 2:06 PM PST up reply actions
Other than wow, I really don't know what to say
Die-hard Texas Tech girl & new Cougar (fan)! Bring it!
Man, Cougar football is giving me an unknown, nearly forgotten sensation....
I know what it is…..it’s called relevance.
"Jaw-dropping numbers"
When he’s talking about the Tech receivers putting up those kind of numbers, HE AIN’T EXAGGERATING FOLKS! I used to get to watch those said numbers being put up, in person, and believe me it was a thing of beauty! You Wazzu faithful, ya’ll gonna have some fun watching Leach’s “Greatest Show on Turf.”
Coach Simmons
Coach Simmons is one of the top young coaches in Division 1 college football. He will be a HUGE asset to WSU, not just in coaching, but many people consider him to be one of the top recruiters as well. At Tech, he landed the majority of their top players. Things at Washington State are getting ready to change BIG time!!!
by stevenhmg on Dec 13, 2011 10:34 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Leach develops coaches and players
For some reason this reminded me of a fear I never had while following Leach at TTU. There’s was never the feeling like the departure of any assistant coach would hurt the program. I feel like Leach can develop coaches and players and that WSU will always be okay if/when one of them exits.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Community Guidelines
Related FanPosts on CougCenter
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
