"Coach Edwards was like, 'Have you ever thought about coaching?' and I was like, 'No. not really,' At the time there weren't that many black guys at BYU and on recruiting weekends I was at the top of the list to host.

"(Coach Edwards) was like, 'You're really good at recruiting and you've been a team leader around here so why wouldn't you want to be a coach?' He was like, 'Go pursue your dreams of trying to go to the NFL. If that doesn't work, I'm going to hold a spot here for you as a graduate assistant and we'd love to have you around.' "

Edwards added an additional incentive, telling Simmons that if he worked as a graduate assistant then BYU could help him financially as he completed his last year on his master's degree.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705385341/BYU-legend-LaVell-Edwards-guided-Simmons-into-coaching.html?pg=all

Simmons coached linebackers at Cornell in 1998 and running backs in 1999. A former three-year starting linebacker at Brigham Young, Simmons began his coaching career under BYU coach LaVell Edwards, who recommended him to Leach, a BYU graduate.

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