Indiana University Athletics
Coaching Keeps Simmons From Slowing Down
1/28/2016 1:28:00 PM | Wrestling
By: Sam Beishuizen | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Nick Simmons feels less selfish these days.
Understand he wasn't being selfish out of spite or hate. It was a job requirement.
Simmons' first four years as an Indiana assistant coach coincided with the end of his competitive wrestling career. He announced his retirement after 28 years of competition last November, just before the Hoosiers' 2015-16 season began.
Balancing his own competitive career and coaching meant sacrificing time and energy. It wasn't as much the training that was difficult to manage, Simmons said that part came easy. The difficult part was switching between wrestling for himself and for the 30 kids training in Indiana's wrestling room.
"In wrestling, you've got to be selfish, especially at the next level—the Olympic level," Simmons said. "It's got to be all about you. It has to.
"It's less about that now."
Simmons was a longtime member of the U.S. National Team in men's freestyle. His career ended with one final run at making the national team for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro before calling an end to his nearly decade-long campaign.
The Williamston, Mich., native is one of the most decorated coaches employed by Indiana athletics. He was runner-up at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 2012 and finished in third place in 2008. One of his more notable victories came 3-0, 5-9, 5-2 over 2008 Olympic champion Henry Cejudo in the semifinals of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in Iowa, a win many of the Hoosiers' wrestlers are well familiar with.
He won four Michigan high school state championships, finishing with a perfect 211-0 record as a prep to earn the attention of nearly every major college wrestling program in the area, including Indiana.
Simmons opted to wrestle at Michigan State where he was a four-time All-American and three-time Big Ten champion. His 46 career falls still rank first in Spartans' program history.
Near the end of his professional career that took him all across the world, Simmons decided to explore coaching options. While he was at another job interview, Indiana head coach Duane Goldman—who recruited him and kept a cordial relationship with the Michigan State standout—called Simmons and hired him shortly after.
There was never much doubt he'd wind up taking a coaching job. It was just a matter of finding a fit.
"I knew I wasn't going to get out of wrestling," Simmons said. "It's what I knew. It's what I was good at. After I was done training, that was what I was going to do."
Inside the wrestling room at Assembly Hall, Simmons is about as hands on as any coach. He may be retired from wrestling himself, but the competition never really left him.
Instead of showing techniques or giving lessons from afar, Simmons jumps right into the action. He wears his own wrestling singlet and will go one-on-one with his wrestlers, giving Indiana's wrestlers opportunities to tap into nearly three decades of wrestling experience.
"Showing and hands-on learning are two different things," Simmons said. "Just showing technique, if they can actually physically wrestle you, they can feel it. And I can feel it, too. I can feel what they need to fix or what they need to improve on because it's totally different when you're experiencing it. It's part of the reason coach Goldman brought me here."
Oftentimes, the Hoosiers' toughest opponent in any given week isn't lining up for the other team.
It's their coach.
"It's kind of an assurance for us knowing that if we can score in a certain position on him, we can score on these college guys," redshirt freshman Cole Weaver said. "If we can do anything on him, we can do it to a college guy. His level is so much higher than everybody else's."
Come match day, Simmons coaches with the same passion and energy that earned him the nickname "The Strangler" at Michigan State.
Coaches are only allowed to get so close to their wrestlers on the mat, but Simmons doesn't mind pushing the envelope to get in his wrestlers' ears. He rarely sits in his coaching chairs, instead opting to run up and down along the side of the mat, clapping his hands and yelling advice through cupped hands.
"It's just how I am," Simmons said. "I get intense. I get excited. It's good for the guys. They see you've got the passion for them as well."
And his wrestlers take notice.
"You always know he's there," freshman Elijah Oliver said. "When you've got someone as good as he is pushing you, it's hard not to have success."
Simmons plans to keep wrestling in his life as long as he can. One day he may pursue a head coaching job, but that's still down the line. For now, he's enjoying his time with Indiana's wrestlers and learning from Goldman's own 23 years of coaching experience in Bloomington alone.
When he's working with his wrestlers, Simmons said he pushes them as hard as he'd push himself. He's seen firsthand what it takes to reach the pinnacle of wrestling and aims to help each of his wrestlers do the same.
Impossible? Probably.
But that's the selflessness of coaching.
"I don't expect our guys to do anything that I wouldn't put myself through," Simmons said. "I want every one of these guys to be great."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Nick Simmons feels less selfish these days.
Understand he wasn't being selfish out of spite or hate. It was a job requirement.
Simmons' first four years as an Indiana assistant coach coincided with the end of his competitive wrestling career. He announced his retirement after 28 years of competition last November, just before the Hoosiers' 2015-16 season began.
Balancing his own competitive career and coaching meant sacrificing time and energy. It wasn't as much the training that was difficult to manage, Simmons said that part came easy. The difficult part was switching between wrestling for himself and for the 30 kids training in Indiana's wrestling room.
"In wrestling, you've got to be selfish, especially at the next level—the Olympic level," Simmons said. "It's got to be all about you. It has to.
"It's less about that now."
Simmons was a longtime member of the U.S. National Team in men's freestyle. His career ended with one final run at making the national team for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro before calling an end to his nearly decade-long campaign.
The Williamston, Mich., native is one of the most decorated coaches employed by Indiana athletics. He was runner-up at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 2012 and finished in third place in 2008. One of his more notable victories came 3-0, 5-9, 5-2 over 2008 Olympic champion Henry Cejudo in the semifinals of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in Iowa, a win many of the Hoosiers' wrestlers are well familiar with.
He won four Michigan high school state championships, finishing with a perfect 211-0 record as a prep to earn the attention of nearly every major college wrestling program in the area, including Indiana.
Simmons opted to wrestle at Michigan State where he was a four-time All-American and three-time Big Ten champion. His 46 career falls still rank first in Spartans' program history.
Near the end of his professional career that took him all across the world, Simmons decided to explore coaching options. While he was at another job interview, Indiana head coach Duane Goldman—who recruited him and kept a cordial relationship with the Michigan State standout—called Simmons and hired him shortly after.
There was never much doubt he'd wind up taking a coaching job. It was just a matter of finding a fit.
"I knew I wasn't going to get out of wrestling," Simmons said. "It's what I knew. It's what I was good at. After I was done training, that was what I was going to do."
Inside the wrestling room at Assembly Hall, Simmons is about as hands on as any coach. He may be retired from wrestling himself, but the competition never really left him.
Instead of showing techniques or giving lessons from afar, Simmons jumps right into the action. He wears his own wrestling singlet and will go one-on-one with his wrestlers, giving Indiana's wrestlers opportunities to tap into nearly three decades of wrestling experience.
"Showing and hands-on learning are two different things," Simmons said. "Just showing technique, if they can actually physically wrestle you, they can feel it. And I can feel it, too. I can feel what they need to fix or what they need to improve on because it's totally different when you're experiencing it. It's part of the reason coach Goldman brought me here."
Oftentimes, the Hoosiers' toughest opponent in any given week isn't lining up for the other team.
It's their coach.
"It's kind of an assurance for us knowing that if we can score in a certain position on him, we can score on these college guys," redshirt freshman Cole Weaver said. "If we can do anything on him, we can do it to a college guy. His level is so much higher than everybody else's."
Come match day, Simmons coaches with the same passion and energy that earned him the nickname "The Strangler" at Michigan State.
Coaches are only allowed to get so close to their wrestlers on the mat, but Simmons doesn't mind pushing the envelope to get in his wrestlers' ears. He rarely sits in his coaching chairs, instead opting to run up and down along the side of the mat, clapping his hands and yelling advice through cupped hands.
"It's just how I am," Simmons said. "I get intense. I get excited. It's good for the guys. They see you've got the passion for them as well."
And his wrestlers take notice.
"You always know he's there," freshman Elijah Oliver said. "When you've got someone as good as he is pushing you, it's hard not to have success."
Simmons plans to keep wrestling in his life as long as he can. One day he may pursue a head coaching job, but that's still down the line. For now, he's enjoying his time with Indiana's wrestlers and learning from Goldman's own 23 years of coaching experience in Bloomington alone.
When he's working with his wrestlers, Simmons said he pushes them as hard as he'd push himself. He's seen firsthand what it takes to reach the pinnacle of wrestling and aims to help each of his wrestlers do the same.
Impossible? Probably.
But that's the selflessness of coaching.
"I don't expect our guys to do anything that I wouldn't put myself through," Simmons said. "I want every one of these guys to be great."
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