Albuquerque, N.M. — University of New Mexico head football coach Bob Davie has announced that former Colorado State co-Defensive Coordinator Al Simmons has joined the Lobo coaching staff. He also has announced that Clay Davie has been promoted from offensive graduate assistant to Tight Ends Coach.
With the hiring of Simmons, Davie has announced a reshuffling of duties. Simmons, who will be entering his 30th year of coaching in 2015, will coach cornerbacks at UNM. Charles McMillian, who coached the secondary last year, will coach the safeties in 2015. Simmons replaces Archie McDaniel, who left for SMU, and Davie replaces Derek Warehime, who left to become the offensive line coach at Houston. In addition, Apollo Wright has been named the new Special Teams Coordinator by Bob Davie, taking over for Warehime in that role. Wright has worked closely with Warehime on several special teams units.
“Al has a great reputation across the country and we are excited to have him join our staff,” said Bob Davie. “With his familiarity and success in the Mountain West Conference the last three years, he will be a valuable resource to our defensive players and coaches.”
Simmons’ career in coaching began at his alma mater Cal State Hayward back in 1986-87 as a defensive backs coach, and over the next 29 years in both the college ranks and the NFL, Simmons served as secondary coach and/or defensive coordinator. He has 12 years of defensive coordinator experience over four schools, including serving from 2012-14 at Colorado State as the co-Defensive Coordinator and secondary coach.
Simmons has also served as the defensive coordinator at Cal State Hayward (1988-93), San Francisco State (1994) and Idaho State (1997) as well as a special teams coordinator at Arizona State in 1997. He also spent parts of six seasons in the NFL, including a two-year stint coaching corners and defensive backs with the San Francisco 49ers (2003-04). Simmons also has assisted with summer training camps with the Los Angeles Raiders, the Arizona Cardinals, the San Diego Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys.
Simmons played junior college football at Laney College before transferring and finishing his career at Cal State Hayward.
“Al Simmons brings to our defense a tremendous amount of passion and knowledge,” said Kevin Cosgrove, Defensive Coordinator. “Al’s experiences in the Mountain West, the Pac-10, and the NFL will greatly benefit our players and our team.”
Ironically, Simmons’ time at Arizona State overlapped with UNM’s other hire, Clay Davie. Davie has spent the previous three seasons as an offensive graduate assistant which came on the heels of a two year graduate internship at Arizona State. That internship followed a three-year career with the Sun Devils from 2007-09. Over his time there the Sun Devils played in a pair of bowl games; the 2007 Holiday Bowl and the 2011 Las Vegas Bowl.
“We are fortunate to be able to hire someone who has been in our program for three years and obviously has a great understanding of our system and players,” said Bob Davie. “Clay has also recruited off campus for us the last two years during staff changes and has proven he will be a productive recruiter.”
Davie has assisted the UNM offense for the past three years, with the Lobos setting a host of records and becoming one of the most prolific rushing offenses in the country. UNM’s rushing offense is the only one in the country to have finished in the top five nationally with at least 300 yards per game in each of the last three seasons.
“It became obvious that in the course of replacing Derek Warehime, Clay Davie was the guy with the best handle on our offense,” said offensive coordinator Bob DeBesse. “Our offense is a little different than most, and Clay has been here with me since the very beginning and understands all of the nuances of it. He has obviously grown up around football all his life and his experiences on the staff here and also at Arizona State have prepared him for this next step.”
Both hires are pending H.R. approval.