UT-Martin Head Coach Jason Simpson, He and Mike Gundy Have a Lot in Common
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State and Tennessee-Martin are now less than two weeks away from opening the college football season against each other inside Boone Pickens Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 28 at 6:30 p.m. The two head coaches, Mike Gundy for the Cowboys and Jason Simpson of the Skyhawks have both been at their schools for 20-years-or-more. For Mike Gundy this is season No. 21 and for Simpson it is season No. 20.
They are both the winningest head coaches in their schools history. Gundy is all-time 169-88 with 18 winning seasons, 18 bowl games, and a Big 12 Conference Championship and seven second-place finishes in the Big 12. Simpson is 124-92 in 19 seasons and six conference championships and FCS playoff appearances.
“He’s pretty funny and a cool guy to be around,” said Davis Gregory, the play-by-play voice for the Skyhawks of Simpson. “I don’t how many match-ups you guys see, I can’t think there are many out there, with two 20-year plus head coaches going against each other. It’s a testament to Coach Simpson and he is very active and popular in the community.”
Both Jason Simpson and Mike Gundy are former college quarterbacks, Gundy at Oklahoma State and Simpson at Mississippi State and both also played college baseball. Gundy was a middle infielder for one season at OSU and Simpson played at Mississippi State two seasons and finished at Southern Miss as an All-Conference selection.
Both have three kids and two sons that are or were quarterbacks. Mike Gundy saw two of his sons lead Stillwater High School to the Oklahoma Class 6A-II State Championship. Gunnar Gundy went on to play quarterback and start at Oklahoma State including a touchdown run in his final game at OSU against Texas A&M in the TaxAct Texas Bowl. He went on to play quarterback at Emporia State in the MIAA. Gage quarterbacked Stillwater to a State Championship and is still involved in college athletics as a baseball player.
“Both his (Simpson’s) sons played football and one still plays at Westview High School,” Gregory continued. “His daughter is in college at Tennessee-Martin and she was on the girls basketball team at Westview, so they are all around and involved in the community. They truly are like the first family of Martin (Tenn.) because of how much Coach Simpson means to Martin and to Northwest, Tenn.”
Similar to the gundy’s who are one of the first families of Stillwater and have been for a long time.
Now, here is the rest of the story for you (as the legendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey would say.
The oldest son Tyson has been named the starting quarterback at Alabama. The 6-2, 208 pound Simpson is in his fourth year at Bame and has completed 29-of-50 career passes for 381-yards and has no touchdowns or interceptions. He has 22 carries for 130-yards and three touchdowns. Two days after his dad’s team plays in Stillwater, Ty Simpson will start for the Crimson Tide at Florida State on Saturday night.
His younger brother, Graham, is a senior at Westview High School and has offers from the likes of Alabama, Arkansas, Duke, Mississippi State, Maryland, North Carolina, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Syracuse. He is 6-0, 182 pounds and in his career has a 57-1 touchdown to interception ratio. That is off-the-charts and so “coach’s son” as far as football IQ.
The similarities in this coach’s match-up are crazy. I think it will give Gundy and Simpson plenty to talk about at midfield before the game on Aug. 28.
