Paul Simmons (American football)

Paul Simmons is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach for Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, a position he has held since 2017. He has won Great American Conference championships in 2021, 2023, reached the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs in 2017, and won the NCAA Division II national championship in 2023.

As a player for Harding, Simmons was a three-time first-team All-American linebacker and defensive end. He was inducted into the Harding Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999. Simmons played high school football for the Ashdown High School Panthers in Ashdown, Arkansas from 1988 to 1990.

Simmons joined Harding as an assistant coach in 2006, and became the defensive coordinator in 2010. Before coming to Harding, Simmons was a high school head coach in Memphis.

In 2023, Simmons coached his Harding Bisons to a NCAA Division II national championship, finishing undefeated at 15–0. That team became the first to ever rush for over 6,000 yards in a single season in NCAA history.

Simmons' son, Wyatt, a high 3-star linebacker in the 2024 class at Harding Academy High School in Searcy, has signed to play college football for Arkansas over offers from schools such as Auburn, Clemson, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Tennessee, USC, and Florida State.