Simpson joins W&J as assistant coach of the cross country and track & field programs for the 2024-25 season.
Simpson comes to W&J after spending the past years at West Liberty University as the head men’s and women’s track & field and cross country coach. Here, he headed the efforts in growing the inherited roster size of 26 student-athletes to 90 total by the end of his stint.
On the cross country side, Simpson oversaw the training of 5 All-Atlantic Region Cross Country runners and two individual Women's Cross Country Conference Champions including the 2022 CRA National Trail Champion. Simpson also built an academically sound core which logged All-Academic Track and Field and Cross Country Teams in 2020, 2021 and 2022 with the Women's Cross Country team having the highest University GPA within athletics in 2022.
On the track & field end, Simpson made his impact in coaching student-athletes who broke 23 women's indoor schools records, 15 women's outdoor schools records, 22 men's indoor school records and nine men's outdoor records.
Simpson also spent 10 years as a volunteer assistant coach with Cleary at WVU and was co-owner of the prestigious West Virginia Flyers running club, helping develop numerous elite high school runners in the tri-state area.
A record-setting three-time state champion at Oak Glen (W.Va.) High School during the early 2000s, he is one of only five West Virginia runners ever to qualify for the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships. He did that by finishing seventh in the 2002 Foot Locker South Regional Championship in Charlotte, N.C. with a 5K time of 15:06.09 – still the second-fastest South Regional time ever posted by a West Virginia runner. Two weeks later, competing against the nation’s top high school runners, Simpson finished 23rd in the Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego, Calif. with a time of 15:40.5.
He and his twin brother, Josh, originally signed to run for legendary track and cross country coach Sean Cleary at West Virginia University but wound up at NCAA Division I cross country power Northern Arizona University when WVU dropped its men's track program. After a year in Flagstaff, the twins returned to the Mountain State to complete their education while training with Cleary.
Simpson continued to compete at a high level in distances from 5K through marathons. He earned a first-team All-South spot in 2011 with a third-place finish in the men’s Open 5K at the Foot Locker South Regional and also ran the 2014 Boston Marathon.
A native of Windsor Heights, W. Va., Simpson worked his way to completing his bachelors degree in athletic coaching education in 2011 from West Virginia University. He earned his masters degree the following years in 2013 in athletic coaching education as well.
