In December, Willie Simmons formally grew to become an FBS coach when he was employed to guide the FIU Panthers. Now, he is set to begin his new chapter towards a well-known HBCU rival: the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats. FIU added Bethune-Cookman to formally spherical out their soccer schedule, with the sport set to happen both on August twenty ninth or August thirtieth.
Bethune-Cookman would be the solely HBCU that Simmons and the Panthers will play within the 2025 season as they then face off towards a Penn State workforce that ended their season within the expanded Faculty Soccer Playoffs final season. The matchup towards Bethune-Cookman marks a becoming begin to Simmons’ first season main FIU, as he goals to take care of his streak of attaining profitable seasons at each program he’s coached.
Bethune-Cookman has seen its latest share of struggles since Willie Simmons grew to become the top coach of Florida A&M in 2018. The Rattlers confronted off towards the Wildcats within the Florida Blue Florida Basic on the finish of every season, with Bethune-Cookman defeating Willie Simmons’s Florida A&M workforce in each 2018 and 2019. However, Simmons rapidly turned the collection on its head, as he led Florida A&M to 3 straight victories over Bethune-Cookman earlier than departing this system to turn into Duke College operating backs coach in 2023.
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The sport towards Bethune-Cookman will definitely be a proof-of-concept of the kind of workforce that Simmons’s Panthers shall be. He brings outstanding success to the workforce from Florida A&M, ending his tenure with a powerful 45-13 file. He additionally guided the Rattlers by means of their transition from the Mid-Japanese Athletic Convention (MEAC) to the Southwestern Athletic Convention (SWAC). Since becoming a member of the SWAC, Florida A&M has solely suffered two losses, each to the Deion Sanders-led Jackson State Tigers in 2021 (7-5) and 2022 (59-3).
Sarcastically sufficient, Bethune-Cookman is 4-0 towards FIU after they play.The final assembly between the 2 groups was in 2014, when the Wildcats secured a slender 14-12 victory and went on to complete the season with a 9-3 file. Simmons now hopes to finish that dropping streak and kick off his FIU tenure on a excessive be aware.