Former Buffs assistant coach Bob Simmons, who helped CU to 1990 national title, dies

Bob Simmons didn’t sit atop the coaching staff for CU Buffs football during the Bill McCartney-led imperial phase of the the late-1980s though mid-1990s. But it’s doubtful that the Buffs would have scaled the 14er-level heights they reached without the longtime assistant coach, who died Tuesday, aged 77.

Simmons joined McCartney’s staff as outside-linebackers coach in 1988, just as the Buffs program was taking flight towards the nation’s elite. By his third year, CU was a national champion and he had a Butkus Award winner on his watch: Alfred Williams.

But he was also an ace recruiter. Simmons was responsible for landing quarterback Kordell Stewart, 1994 Thorpe Award winner Chris Hudson and eventual Broncos head coach and defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, among others.

“Coach Simmons recruited me and was the father I needed away from home,” Joseph said in a statement issued by CU. “He was my sounding board as a student-athlete and also in my professional coaching career. He always gave me the tough advice that I needed during my toughest times in life.”

Simmons would become defensive-line coach in 1992, while also assuming assistant-head-coach responsibilities.

When McCartney announced his retirement on Nov. 19, 1994, he recommended two potential successors; one of them was Simmons. But CU elected to go its own way, hiring Rick Neuheisel, who remained on the job four years before leaving for the University of Washington. Simmons promptly left to become head coach at then-Big Eight-rival Oklahoma State, inheriting a downtrodden program that had endured six-consecutive losing seasons.

“Oklahoma State had not won in 10 years,” Simmons told The Oklahoman in 2017. “We obviously played them at Colorado and they had some great players, but when I took over the program, most of the guys they had were from junior college. So, it was really starting from the beginning.”

OSU’s streak of losing seasons would reach eight, but Simmons incrementally improved the OSU program, going 4-7 in 1995 and 5-6 in 1996. His breakthrough appeared to come in 1997, when the Cowboys finished 8-4, beating the Buffs along the way as the program reached No. 12 in the nation.

But OSU could not sustain the momentum, going 5-6 in each of the following two seasons. In the midst of a seven-game losing streak in 2000, Simmons resigned. He finished with a 30-36 record, including a 16-31 mark in conference play.

We are saddened by the loss of former Cowboy Football Head Coach Bob Simmons pic.twitter.com/urudRX1kaW

— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) June 10, 2026

But as McCartney did in Boulder, Simmons had a keen eye for accumulating coaching talent on his staff. Among his OSU assistants were Les Miles and Mike Gundy, both of whom led the program to sustained success.

LONG AFTER BUFFS TENURE, SIMMONS RETURNED TO BOULDER

Following his six seasons at Oklahoma State, Simmons worked three seasons at Notre Dame (2002-04) and another three years at the University of Washington (2015-07). His final coaching job was in the high-school ranks at Boulder H.S. from 2013-15.

In Simmons’ final season as a coach in 2015, he snapped a streak of consecutive losing seasons at Boulder H.S. that extended for more than a decade.

“Once I got around the program, I didn’t coach any different,” Simmons told The Oklahoman in 2017. “I wanted the kids to understand that I’ve been to where they wanted to go and I could provide the guidance to get there. I really enjoyed being around them and coaching them.”

Simmons continued to work as a substitute teacher after departing the coaching ranks. His wife, Linda and two children survive him. Another son, Nathan, was killed in a hit-and-run accident last year.

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