Availble 2/6/26
In this episode of the Samson Strength Coach Collective, Jerry Simmons shares a lifetime of lessons learned through strength coaching at every level—from college football and the NFL to Special Forces training. Growing up on a farm instilled a work ethic that shaped his coaching philosophy and expectations. Jerry reflects on mentorship, athlete evaluation, equipment quality, and the relationships that define a long career, while celebrating 50 years of Samson Equipment and its role in the profession.
Key Takeaways
- A farming mentality builds discipline, consistency, and accountability
- Hard work remains the great separator in coaching success
- Great coaches recognize athletes as people first
- Mentorship shapes careers more than job titles
- Equipment quality directly impacts training standards and safety
- Relationships are the true legacy of strength and conditioning
Quote
“If you’re gonna be good at it, you’re gonna have to work hard at it.”
— Jerry Simmons
Samson:
And it really, to me was a strong comparison to what you experienced as a child growing up and working on the farm. Like to me it was, okay, this company would be the farming mentality.
of equipment companies because they’re like you said, the answer is never no. It’s always give me time to figure this out and we’ll make sure we get it done, which I think is so special about Samson.
Jerry Simmons:
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, absolutely. I don’t think there was a time, anytime that I asked him, hey, can you build this? That he said, no, I don’t think I can do it. There was never a time that he said that. It was always give me a week or so, let me put some drawings together and see how everything would work. And then we’ll see if that’ll work. And it always did. He always figured it out.
Samson:
What’s going on Sampson strength coach collective listeners on today’s episode. We have another special edition of the Sampson legacy series celebrating 50 years of Sampson equipment. today’s guest is going to be Jerry Simmons. Jerry, thank you so much for coming on the show.
Jerry Simmons:
Thank you guys. I appreciate it.
That’s good. and Linda has been a big part of it. Mike, we’re.
Samson:
Well, we’re very stoked about it, honestly.
No, no, we’re just.
Absolutely, absolutely. And you know, I remember I’ve gotten a few calls about different guests who are going to be on the show and they wanted to make sure I treated you very special. So we’re excited to have you on. Can you just break, give us a breakdown of your career, your background in strength and conditioning and ⁓ you know, what has, what are you currently up to as well? I’m excited to hear that.
Jerry Simmons:
Ha
Yeah, I’ve been very fortunate. grew up in a small Southwest Kansas town of Elkhart. It’s on the Oklahoma line and 45 miles from New Mexico and Texas. So down in the Dust Bowl. Grew up on a farm and was raised on a farm and ⁓ played high school sports as everybody did back then and decided that farming probably wasn’t ⁓ my cup of tea. ⁓ Went from
high school, jumping around here a little bit, but high school to junior college at Garden City Junior College, played football there and then on to Fort Hayes and finished up there and kind of got into the coaching thing and ⁓ was able to coach at Fort Hayes for I believe three years ⁓ before moving on to Clemson just as a graduate assistant shrink coach. No X’s and O’s or any of type thing. I made my decision that
you know, was ⁓ the strength and conditioning thing would be something I think I would enjoy and I have. And so I went to Clemson and then my first full-time job was at Rice University. And that’s where I met Dave and Linda was there and was there a couple of years before going on to Southern Cal for five. And as a head strength coach, all of them being head guys and then on to New England to the Patriots and then
to Cleveland and Baltimore and in the last 12 was with Carolina Panthers. And now I’m down at Fort Bragg coaching Special Forces guys during break. So still staying in it and been very thankful for the career I’ve had. I’ve been very, very fortunate along the
Samson:
Well, that’s fantastic. It’s such an amazing story. I guess I’m curious about one thing. You know, we, when I was coming up in strength and conditioning, I had a lot of different mentors talk about kind of the farming mentality, right? Like stacking hay, you know, and making sure one day at a time, making sure that we can collect, you know, positive benefits. There’s ⁓ a lot of analogies to ⁓ planting the seeds and watching them grow and reaping what you sowed later on. Did you ever apply any of that mentality with your background to your strength and conditioning career?
Jerry Simmons:
yeah, I think absolutely that’s what molded me into the strength coach that I am ⁓ is all from the farm. ⁓ My dad passed away when I was 14. My brother was 18 and we ⁓ had 4,000 acres of land we were farming. So we didn’t own the ground, we farmed it, ⁓ tenant farmed it. And so it was a lot, a lot of hard work.
And ⁓ there wasn’t, you just had to get it done. No matter what it took, how long it took, it just, it had to be done. So I think that that was, I definitely look back on that and look at the coaching aspect of it as being easy compared to growing up and ⁓ going through some of the things that I went through there. But I’m very, very thankful I went through them because the hard work part of it has never been a problem for me. I’ve always enjoyed it.
So as far as the strength coaching or coaching as a whole, whether you’re being a basketball coach, football coach or whatever, if you’re gonna be good at it, you’re gonna have to work hard at it and it’s gonna take time to make things work. So that with the farming, I think was hand in hand.
Samson:
For sure. And you know, I’ve got to imagine that ⁓ when other coaches are complaining about having to wake up early, that was nothing compared to the hours you had to put in on the farm.
Jerry Simmons:
Now, waking up early was always there for me. So coaching, getting up, I get up at 4.30 in the morning now to train and go to Fort Bragg and train the guys there. So getting up early is not a problem at all. And sometimes staying out late at night in the air.
Samson:
Easy.
I’m sure. Well, you mentioned, ⁓ you know, first working in playing football, sorry. And then within the coaching aspect that strength and conditioning is what really spoke to you and what stood out to you. What was it about strength and conditioning that you said, okay, this is what I want to make it my full-time career.
Jerry Simmons:
Well, when I was at Fort Hayes, I was the linebacker coach ⁓ and the strength and condition coach. And it was funny, ⁓ we had a senior ⁓ linebacker that had gotten hurt. And ⁓ he was out for two or three weeks, something like that. And ⁓ I put in a true freshman ⁓ that was okay. He did the job decently, but he wasn’t like the senior. ⁓
our head coach when my senior was ready to come back, we were talking in meeting and I said, hey, Ron’s ready to go. Let’s put him back in there. And the head coach goes, well, you know what? We may want to leave. I can’t remember the kid’s name now, but he said we may want to leave him in. And I said, no, I said he’s not as good as Ron, but we got to play Ron.
And he goes, well, his dad’s given him some money and helping us out with some stuff. And I said, coach, no, we can’t do that. And he goes, well, yeah, you’re going to have to start him. And I go, well, you’re going to tell Ron that. said, I’m, yeah, I’m not telling him that because it’s not right. So I really think at that moment, I said, okay, this isn’t, this isn’t the way I want to do things. I don’t care who they are or what they are.
I want to give the guy the chance that plays the best and does the best. So that’s the way I always felt about it. And with the strength and conditioning, didn’t care if it’s a starter, if it’s a walk on guy or whoever it was, you can help him just as well all the way through it, whether he played or he didn’t play. You didn’t have to pick a favorite or anything like that. So I think that that kind of shifted me towards the strength and conditioning thing.
And when I was coming up in it, strength and conditioning had just become a big thing. And so it was, I was kind of at the start of it to a degree had been going for a little while, but it was an avenue that I felt like I was still coaching and fulfilling that part of it. And I could go on with my career and be happy with it. And it’s worked out that way for me.
Samson:
Well, that’s excellent. I think back to just this past weekend, we had a lift on Saturday. It was on game day. And I work in basketball. So we’ve got a small group, about 15 guys. ⁓ And ultimately, being able to work with all of them is fantastic. But the most fun lifts that I have are our red shirt and walk-on lifts, because those guys know they’re not going to lift. they’re excited. They’re not going to get into the game that day. They couldn’t care less. And so we have a ton of fun. And we blast the music.
Jerry Simmons:
Right, right.
Samson:
we’ll do whatever and it’s basically a ton of upper body, like just have fun, come in and get a good pump in and then leave. But they have the greatest mentality and the greatest attitude about it. And I think what you mentioned is a really strong point is that I couldn’t care less, you know, from my job and my perspective about is this person gonna help us win today or not, because they’re not gonna play. But all I care about is, you know, putting some positive energy into this person’s life and helping them develop and helping them grow. And then hopefully they can look back after their time and say,
Jerry Simmons:
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Samson:
they got better underneath the program. So I think that’s a beautiful aspect that you mentioned there.
Jerry Simmons:
Yeah, that’s been a big part of why I’ve enjoyed the strength and conditioning part of it. It’s this, you know, you can tell if somebody’s having problems that day. You can tell if it’s a week or a month’s worth. You know that something’s going on. And you can go up and just say, hey, I know something’s going on. Let’s talk about it. And throughout my career, I’ve had, and even now with green berets,
I’ve had a ton of guys that have had some big problems and I’ve been able to at least see it and get them help or see it and go, hey, what’s going on here? Let’s talk about this. How can we help? You know, those type things. And I think that’s just as fulfilling as, hey, guy got 420 pounds on a bench or whatever. But those things of helping somebody when they need help.
I think that’s a big part of it. And being a linebacker coach, I was just dealing with linebackers. Although I was doing the strength part of it. going forward in my career, I thought, you know, I can help everybody.
Samson:
Absolutely. And again, like you mentioned, that’s the best part of the job. The 400 pound bench is cool, but being there for somebody when they really need it is why a lot of coaches get into it. You mentioned going to Rice, and that’s where you first met Dave and Linda. Can you walk me through your first time meeting them, your experience with, this is the first time I’ve met Dave and Linda. This is the first time I worked with Sampson. How was that?
Jerry Simmons:
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Well, you know, I can’t remember exactly whether Dave came around or what the situa- it may, you know what it might have been. We always had that Texas ⁓ football clinic or whatever. And I think Dave and Linda started in 76 or something like that, somewhere around that time frame. And I think that that’s where I first met them. And-
I didn’t have a lot of money at Rice. ⁓ We didn’t have a budget already. I was the first strength coach there. So it was like, okay, I’d have to get money from here or there or whatever ⁓ to buy a piece of equipment. And I was talking with Dave and I disliked the look of his equipment. It was sturdy. You know, it looked like it was over made even. ⁓ It was very heavy duty, ⁓ good looking stuff.
So I started talking with those guys a little bit and I bought a couple pieces, I think a bench and something else from them. And that’s where I kind of got to first got to know them. And then going on to Southern Cal, from there, the weight room we had at Southern Cal was about 1200 square feet. And the equipment in it was the old universal gyms. If you remember, you probably don’t remember it, but.
some listeners will, but it was where, yeah, where they had, you know, the different selectorized equipment on it. But anyway, the Olympics were coming in in 84 and, 80, let me see, was that, yeah, 84. So I had been trying, I’ve been there a year, and like I said, the weight room was horrible. I mean, I couldn’t believe the weight room.
Samson:
I’ve heard stories.
Jerry Simmons:
was like it was, and I was the first real strength coach at USC too. And so I’d been on them about, hey, ⁓ we have got to get a bigger weight room. ⁓ The women’s swimming and these and other sports were going across the street to a gym across the street and working out. ⁓ So we were trying to pull everybody back in together and, and me be the strength coach over everybody. ⁓
So anyway, we go to play South Carolina, like the third game or second game of the season. And it was hotter and hell and humid as hell and at South Carolina and Keith Kephart was a good buddy of mine that I’d gotten to know. And Keith was the head strength coach there. So I called him and I said, Hey, can we come through? I, you know, when we fly, we’ll have the president and we’ll have some donors and
some people on the plane. I want them to see what a real weight room is. And he goes, Oh, absolutely. Come over. So anyway, we got a bunch of people together and went over and looked at that weight room and they were like, Oh my God, this is crazy. This is really nice. Well, we commenced, we stayed with them to halftime and then we got our ass kicked in the second half. And on the way back on the plane, the guy that was in charge of the
donors and stuff like that come up and he goes, hey, the guys in back would like to talk to you. And I’m going, shit, here we go. So I did, I went back and back and they said, what do you need? What kind of weight room do you need? And I said, well, you know, if we could get somewhere around that 8,000 square foot weight room and whatever. And so one guy was doing the, all of the construction work on LAX for the Olympics.
He goes, I’ll take two crews off of this and, build that weight room. And then another guy said it. He goes, Hey, I’ll put all of the air conditioning or whatever else in. Another guy was going to put all the flooring in. so long story short, by the time we landed in LA there, we had to get approval from the president and everybody involved in architecture and all that stuff. But we were able to get that weight room started and built before the Olympics. And that meaning.
It, probably, it didn’t get started till about the middle of December and everything through the Olympics had to be done by the 1st of June. So that period of time, that weight room had to be done. And so I, um, there was other equipment that I bought, but I bought a ton of stuff from Dave. And I remember sitting down with him and talking with him and I said, Hey, I want to build a bench and an incline.
that’s a little different than it has a slant back to the standards where the guys when they lifted your natural arc is to take it back towards eyebrow level. Instead of being the standard straight up and down, they had a slight slant backwards. Nobody else had that. So Dave and I worked, Dave did more than me. I told him what I thought I wanted and Dave put it together and built those benches. And ⁓ that’s the thing I always loved about him.
is I could say, hey, I had this concept in my mind for a piece of equipment. I seen whoever was that piece of equipment. kind of like a couple things off of that. I kind of like a couple of things off of another piece. Can we do something like that? And it was always give me a week and I’ll get back with you. He’d always get back with me. He goes, need a little more time, but we’ll build it. He goes, I know we can build it.
So it was always good as far as that’s concerned. But we got that weight room built in that period of time and it turned out beautiful. Dave and Linda had a ton of equipment in there and ⁓ it was a pretty good deal.
Samson:
That might be the first story I’ve ever heard where a loss, like you said, you guys got your butts whipped in the second half, honestly became a win in the long run.
Jerry Simmons:
Yep.
I did. It absolutely did. And one other story with those two, ⁓ I started having clinics and ⁓ Dave and Linda were one of my main people. They would take two booths, ⁓ big booths and ⁓ bring some of their equipment in for the Southern Cal area coaches and stuff that came to this clinic. And I was wide-wiring the NSEA clinics as far as numbers were concerned.
I think at our height we had like over 200 coaches there and I had a dual clinic. It was a trainer and a strength clinic. So I had speakers for the athletic trainer aspect of it and had speakers for the strength. And I think that the last year we had like 350 people or whatever that came to it. And Dave and Linda were always one of the big companies that was there. And I got one story about the first year.
We were across the street and I think it was a Hilton, but there was no ⁓ freight elevators. so Dave had to take the equipment apart to get in a regular elevator to take the equipment up to where the banquet area was at where they were going to set up. And Linda was right there with him taking things apart and we were helping him trying to get stuff set up.
But it was always fun with those guys.
Samson:
That’s awesome. mean, that’s such a great story. And it’s so cool to hear it. What impression did that give you of Dave and Linda, seeing that they’re the type of people who would take anything, literally take equipment apart, do anything to get the job done to make sure that everything can be shown off?
Jerry Simmons:
Yeah, I mean, it just reminded me of farming. I mean, there was never, it’s never no, I can’t do that. It’s, I’ll figure out a way to do it. There’s never a farming, you don’t say no, it’s got to get done. So you got to figure out a way to do it. There’s a way to do everything. And you may think it’s impossible, but it’s not. If you have that attitude of, hey, I’m going to figure this out.
and I’m going to work and do whatever I need to do to make it happen, you’re going to succeed with it. And that was with them. We were having a good time together laughing and it was like, my God, we got to take his stuff all the way up here. It was good and that reminded me of the farming deal. And Dave and I just hit it off in the beginning anyway. I think he worked very hard growing up too. ⁓
So it was a good relationship.
Samson:
Well, you it’s interesting you say that because in my mind, you know, I’m kind of working through hearing you talk about your experience with farming and working these long hours. And ultimately I’ve done a lot of these podcasts with the, with the legacy series, getting able to hear plenty of stories about Dave and Linda’s work ethic, about Samson as a whole. And it really, to me was a strong comparison to what you experienced as a child growing up and working on the farm. Like to me it was, okay, this company would be the farming mentality.
of equipment companies because they’re like you said, the answer is never no. It’s always give me time to figure this out and we’ll make sure we get it done, which I think is so special about Samson.
Jerry Simmons:
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, absolutely. I don’t think there was a time, anytime that I asked him, hey, can you build this? That he said, no, I don’t think I can do it. There was never a time that he said that. It was always give me a week or so, let me put some drawings together and see how everything would work. And then we’ll see if that’ll work. And it always did. He always figured it out.
Samson:
That’s awesome. Well, you know, and, as you said, it’s just the mentality of let me give me, me time. We’ll make sure we get this done and we’ll find a way. and that’s why they’ve had a lot of success. You know, another common theme I’ve seen is something that you mentioned earlier too, which is here’s a design. Here’s something that in my mind could really help us within the weight room. And then Dave works on it and finds a way to get it done. I mean, this is, you’re not the first. And I, I mean, pretty much, I think everybody I’ve spoken to in the series has a similar story of.
here’s a piece of equipment that I really want for our teams that could really help us within the weight room. And now we’re able to actually get this done, which is something that I feel like is not very common, especially today, working with companies, it’s really tough to get these ideas and especially just even get the owner on the phone, let alone find a new design for a piece of equipment. What did that mean to you to have a equipment company that you knew you could work with that could provide those things that you really needed?
Jerry Simmons:
Well, it was very important. I’m kind of a stickler on stuff the way I want it done, the way I vision a piece of equipment or whatever. so it was always, you know, I may not have been the nicest guy in the world, but it was always like, is what I want. We got to find a way to do it. And just like I’ve said before, they would do it.
The other part of it was, and we talked about it a little bit, is all of his equipment, nothing ever breaks. I mean, it’s high grade equipment, it’s heavy-dutely built, and that’s the other thing I really liked about it. And I’ll give you an example of that. When I went to the Cleveland Browns, ⁓ I bought, yeah, was, so after the Southern Cal, I went to New England and
than to ⁓ Cleveland, ⁓ those benches and inclines that Dave put together for me and built, ⁓ that’s the ones that I wanted for the Browns. So we bought squat racks, we bought ⁓ the ⁓ benches and inclines ⁓ for the Browns. Well, I was there when the Browns left Cleveland and went to Baltimore.
So all that equipment went with me. All I did is take it. There was a shop in Owings Mills at the Ravens facility. ⁓ We went out there and sanded stuff down a little bit and repainted it and made it then Ravens equipment. So ⁓ I was there three years, yeah, three years, I believe. And then I went to Carolina. Well, when I went to Carolina, it was a weight room full of
hammer equipment and that wasn’t going to work. So, ⁓ my nephew, Darren, who’s the special teams coordinator and assistant head coach at the Bengals, he was my assistant at the time. ⁓ he was assistant special teams, assistant strength and conditioning. And he was just, he was going to come down to Carolina with me, but he was still up in Baltimore. So I asked him, go, Hey, go by the Bravens facility.
and see if what they’re going to do with all that free weight stuff, the benches, inclines, squat racks, all that stuff. So he did and he come back and he goes, well, they’re trying to sell it. And so I got on the phone with Jeff Reidy and Jeff had taken my place there and he was a hammer strength guy. So I said, hey, we got two year old hammer stuff down here, probably 30, 35.
pieces, would you be interested in trading the hammer stuff for my stuff at the Ravens? And he goes, yeah, absolutely. So I went to my owner, ⁓ Mr. Richardson, and I said, hey, this is what I’m trying to do. Do you have opposition to that? And he goes, well, I’ve never had a strength coach come in and said he’s going to save me money. He goes, yeah, absolutely.
And David Modell, I knew David real well with the Ravens. So I called David and I said, hey, ⁓ let’s trade this equipment. So we’re not spending your money, not spending Mr. Richardson’s money. We can make a trade out and we’ll both get what we wanted. So all of that equipment came to the Panthers. And again, took it in the tunnel, set up a paint booth, sanded it down and it had three layers of paint on it. ⁓
different teams that I was with. And again, with Samson equipment, you never had to worry about breakage or things not holding up and doing that type of thing.
Samson:
So this equipment was literally that important to you that you had to bring it to each facility. That’s fantastic. and I would love to see what it looks like now with all the layers of paint on it. I’m sure if you could chip away, you could see the Carolina blue and then ⁓ the purple and the brown. That’s fantastic.
Jerry Simmons:
Absolutely. Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, it from brown to purple ⁓ to silver at Carolina. I don’t know what, when I left there, yeah, I don’t know what, it went after that. ⁓ But yeah, I wanted that stuff with me everywhere I went, if I could. And it was fortunate I was able to do that.
Samson:
Silver.
And like you said, I’m sure you gained the owner’s fortune there a little bit by being able to save some money and just do a full equipment swap. That’s fantastic. I haven’t heard something like that before.
Jerry Simmons:
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah. He, the Mr. Richardson, he was very happy about it. He goes, we just put this, this hammer equipment in here two years ago and spent 300,000 or whatever it was. And you’re telling me I can get money back out of that. And actually I did give him a check for about $25,000 after I got our equipment or that my stuff back. Plus I ordered some other pieces that I needed.
and gave him a $25,000 check back. So yeah, was, I got on good terms to start with.
Samson:
That’s it.
Oh, I’m sure. mean, and you’re a better man than me. I’d probably try to pocket that $25,000. So that’s, that’s awesome to hear. So were you the first in, I mean, you mentioned it Southern Cow, you had Samson equipment in there. Were you one of the first ones to really bring it out to the West coast?
Jerry Simmons:
No.
You know, I think so. I think so. I’m not 100 % sure on that, but yes, I believe so. Because I mean, we bought quite a bit of stuff for that new weight room.
Samson:
And so what was it like being able to have that equipment out there? Cause obviously it’s very popular at the time that you purchased it in Texas, New Mexico, all those areas and kind of like the Southern, you know, Western States area, you know, what was it like to be able to bring that out to, like you said, on the Pacific coast and show some people what the equipment really looks like and the sturdiness of it and the durability.
Jerry Simmons:
Mm-hmm.
Well, I just think it was a deal for me was I always take pride, took a lot of pride in anything that was in that waiver. And if it wasn’t, if it wasn’t up to my standards, ⁓ then I didn’t want it in there. So I never really had to worry about it with Dave and Linda’s equipment because it was always going to be, you know, of high quality. So I always felt good about that. So going.
to out to Southern Cal was ⁓ and thinking about, know, I’ve got to get some of their equipment out here. It wasn’t a second thought. I mean, there were some other equipment companies back then that were, you know, maybe more of a national type name or stuff, but they, those, their equipment was not as good as what Dave and Mendez was. So whenever people came to the weight room at USC,
We would do tours on Saturday morning before we’d play home games. People would come in there and just be at awe of the equipment. And the other thing we would do is we would let for a donation, we would put a gold plaque with their name on it of a piece of equipment. And they would give, can’t remember, $500 or whatever to get their names on the equipment. And they couldn’t wait to get it on.
you know, the pieces of equipment that were in the way.
Samson:
I certainly would do the same. I’d definitely be cutting the check just to have my name on a piece of equipment. That’d be fantastic. Ultimately, ⁓ Sampson has had a lot of influence in the field and strength and conditioning. How do you feel like Sampson has influenced strength and conditioning? What’s the legacy that you’ve seen that they’ve left behind within the field?
Jerry Simmons:
Sure. Right.
Well, I just think that their equipment is, again, very high quality, but their equipment is also very affordable. If you look at two different big equipment companies now, excuse me, mean, the prices are ridiculous. And I always felt like ⁓ people could buy Samson equipment.
and have the best and not pay an arm and leg for it. And I just think that they’ve held true to that all the way through. Their equipment is very, very well made. It’s very sturdy. It’s thick walled. So it’s not gonna, you don’t have to worry about it teeter tottering around if a squat rack or whatever it might be. ⁓
But I just think that the standards that they have put out there for the equipment that they build ⁓ has kind of shown through all the way through with it. And I think that it shows, you know, over the years that they’ve continued to be able to do that and offer an affordable piece of equipment that, you know, people can say, okay, I can afford to go buy that. ⁓ I don’t, and I’m speaking probably out of turn. I don’t think they’re out there to
or it didn’t seem like it to make every dollar that needed to be made. They were more concerned about having a good piece of equipment than they were having, you know, I’m going to charge you three times what it’s really worth. ⁓ They always were very good about that.
Samson:
Absolutely. And that’s again, why I love hosting this podcast because it’s ⁓ it’s a company that I can really represent well and say, okay, this is somebody who you genuinely want to work with. You know, I mean, I’ve had people come up to me before and say, Hey, I know you host a podcast for Samson. How do you actually like their equipment? And I’m like, I love it. And if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be hosting the podcast. There’s a reason we
Jerry Simmons:
Mm-hmm, right.
Samson:
really appreciate what they do because like you said, it’s very high quality, but it’s also affordable. It’s something that can be used for collegiate weight rooms, professional, high school, whatever it may be, it’s applicable to all levels. So it really works well. On a personal note, you know, I’m curious about your journey through strength and conditioning. You’ve worked in the collegiate sector, you’ve worked in the professional field, you now work with special forces. Can you kind of talk me through how coaching at each level has been and maybe anything that you’ve had to do differently or?
how you’ve had to adjust your coaching style based off of where you were, what division you were in.
Jerry Simmons:
Yeah, I, ⁓ that’s a good question. I don’t think I’ve changed anything all the way through ⁓ college. I coach hard, worked hard, made the guys work hard, made the guys do things right. If they didn’t do things right, I pretty much was on their butt all the time. All I ever ask of them is give me, when you walk through that door, you better be ready to work.
And ⁓ if you’re not going to do that, then get the hell out. And that’s kind of the way it was in the NFL for 23 years and the way it is with the Green Berets, but I don’t have to do that with Green Berets. ⁓ If anything, you got to hold those guys back. But ⁓ college in the NFL, you always had college guys were, I mean, they would get after it and really go with it. ⁓ But as far as changing my coaching.
I, I never really did that. I’ve always been kind of a get after you type guy in a positive way. And, you know, if you’re doing something wrong, you shouldn’t be doing, and then I’m going to jump your ass about it. But if it’s, you know, my deal was always try to build them up and have fun doing it and work as hard as you can work. Getting in the NFL was no different. I mean, our programs, I feel and
I mean, take from, haven’t, you know, not very many guys are still in it that was in it when I was in it. but we used to talk all the time and our off season programs are very, very difficult. ⁓ I made it as hard as I could make it. Cause I always felt like that if you didn’t put pressure on the players to get better, ⁓ they’re, they’re going to do, they’re going to work and they’re going to do those things. But if they’re not ready to go, when it became.
July and August during two days and stuff, and somebody got hurt, I always felt responsible to a degree with that. So I never wanted that on my shoulders. And the other part of it is I always felt our teams were in great shape, were strong. And in the fourth quarters, second halves, fourth quarters, that’s where we’ll show what hard work we had done in the training, in the lifting rooms.
and out running and, doing those different things. And I think with each level, it’s been the same as far as if you give them something that they feel like they’re getting better at, that they can feel it and they feel like they’re getting better, they’re going to listen to it. ⁓ Green Berets, especially. I mean, they could give a damn less how many years I was in college and the NFL. I mean, they’re like very respectful and all that’s great.
And they’re not real worried about that. They’re worried about making sure that they’re ready to go when they deploy that, you know, their life is on the line. So for them, it was totally a deal of. I’m going to listen to you. I’m going to do what you asked me to do. If it doesn’t work, then I’m not going to be with you anymore. And you had to earn their respect from what you coached and how you coached.
And ⁓ with those guys, it’s ⁓ swimming journey ⁓ for coaching. However many years I coached in college and in the NFL. And for this to be at the end of my career has been unbelievable. ⁓ The guys now are very, very special. ⁓ They’re just different than everybody else. ⁓
They will do anything in the world for you if you’re inside with them. If you’re on the outside, nothing. But if they’re inside, if something happened and I needed them, I could call right now and they’d be there in five minutes. ⁓ They’re just, they’re awesome, awesome people. Our country should be very, very proud of all of our armed forces. My daughter was in the army too, but… ⁓
all of the armed forces, but the Green Berets, they’re special, very special people.
Samson:
Absolutely. father was actually, he was an army ranger ⁓ during the Vietnam War. And I believe he got invited to ⁓ train with the Green Berets and hopefully go through their testing system. I remember I asked him, said, why didn’t you end up doing this? And said, I’m too soft for that. I couldn’t handle that. So it was definitely a difficult training experience. ⁓
Jerry Simmons:
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I don’t know about that.
Yeah, I don’t know about that. Ranger
training is pretty damn tough.
Samson:
You mentioned having
to hold the green braids. ⁓ yeah, absolutely. They are super tough. So you mentioned having to hold the green braids back a little bit. What does that look like for you? What do you mean by that?
Jerry Simmons:
Yeah.
Well, I just think that you got to with those guys all their mind. I mean, they’re very, very, very, very intelligent. Number one, they are a very hyper group per se. But we have early morning workouts started at 5 45 in the morning.
So they would do a workout then and I mean, I try to make it as, I’ve always tried to with that make it as hard as I can possibly make it. So when they walk out of there, their ass is kicked. Well, everyone almost to a person at four o’clock or five o’clock, they’re at their gyms or somewhere else training again. And they,
they have the attitude that more is better. And just getting them to say, no, it isn’t. doesn’t, you you’re overtrained so much, ⁓ but it’s very difficult to get the thought past them. Because again, when they go somewhere, if they go to Afghanistan, if they go to Africa or wherever they might go. ⁓
They have got to be able to go above and beyond what they think they can do. And they’ve got, they feel like they’ve got them trained to be able to do that. And that’s one other thing with them too, ⁓ that I’ve is ⁓ I’ve seen it in college, in the NFL to a degree. But with those guys, they’ll get to a point of exhaustion and it’s almost like something clicks.
and all of a sudden they might have barely been able to get through whatever it is, something clicks and it’s like they got a new burst of energy. Their mind goes into another form or whatever and they just keep going and going and going and going. And the only way that they don’t is by passing out or just being completely exhausted. ⁓ They’re just, I mean they’re
It’s very interesting to see what they are, how hard they are, what they can do, how far they can go. It’s a very interesting ⁓ thing to watch at times.
Samson:
Well, I’m sure that’s exactly why they are the special forces, right? Is because they have that ability. They can push themselves to those limits. And then that makes more sense as to why you would have to hold them back in certain areas, because at some point you put something in front of them, they’re not going to back down from the challenges. They’re going to keep going.
Jerry Simmons:
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
No.
Yeah. And that’s another thing that people would ask, difference college pro these guys, if you have on your workout, let’s just say bench, you got four sets of eight on a bench. If they start out and they only get six of those eight after on the first set, they don’t go to the second set on anything.
until every rep is completed and it’s across the board. It’s not well okay I’ll light the weight up and I’ll get more reps next set. No. They’re going to sit there or stand and when they feel like they can go again they’ll go and get those other two reps and then they’ll adjust the weight if need be for the second set but again whatever you’ve told them to do they’re going to do it to the fullest.
And they won’t leave until they have everything completed, just like they’ve been asked to do. And that’s another thing that I found very unique with these guys. I would say every once in a while, would be like, all right, out of that four sets of eight, they got seven reps, and I helped them a little bit with that last rep. I go, okay, well, adjust this rep, and they’d stay on there for a minute. And I go, so what do you think for this next set? And he goes, I’m not done with this set yet. And he goes, I didn’t get eight.
So, I mean, that’s just way those guys are.
Samson:
Yeah, well, that’s a fantastic mentality, like you said, and they’re just going to be able to push themselves and find a way to get it done no matter what and make sure that they complete all their work, which I love. I’m curious to hear this as well, too. How was it coaching with your nephew in the NFL? That’s got to be pretty cool experience.
Jerry Simmons:
Yeah.
⁓
Yeah, that was a special time. Yeah, it was very special. ⁓ Darren, of course, my brother, the same farm that my brother and I farmed on, Darren and his brother farmed on too. And Darren was a very, very good athlete in high school. Went on to play quarterback at Dodd Center Junior College. an all-American.
Went on to Kansas and was a punter and quarterback at Kansas. Back up as a quarterback, but I led the nation in punting his senior year. But I always would take those him and his brother, Eric. When we would have training camp, I would always have them come out, even when they were like eight, nine years old, come out and help the equipment guys with stuff. I wanted them around football and they’re, you know,
Gary and Lori did too. They wanted him around. So I always had him around. so as Darren got older, he would come in and like at the Browns, when we were at the Browns, we had two or three quarterbacks go down. And this was when Darren was, I think he had just graduated and was going to be a GA at Kansas.
Almost signed a contract for a game to play a game with the Browns as their quarterback because we lost and had guys injured as quarterbacks. So anyway, long story short, whenever ⁓ we were in Baltimore, ⁓ we always did this strength assistant special teams assistant and ⁓ John Settle was our running back for the ⁓ Redskins was in that position.
And he took a job, I think at Fresno State. And so Ozzie Newsome, who was a GM at the time, he’d come in to Scott O’Brien was a special teams coach and I was in with Scotty and Ozzie said, well, what are we going to do with his special teams assistant? And I think Darren probably would have been 23 or four. Yeah, probably. And he asked Scotty and Scotty said, I really don’t have anybody right now.
He said to me, have you got any money? And I go, I sat there for a minute and I kind of smiled and I go, what about Darren? And Ozzy looked at me and he goes, I never thought about Darren. And Scotty goes, when Darren would come out, he would help Scott with special teams and then help me in the weight room too for the two weeks or whatever he came for training camp. So we…
and making that phone call to Darren. He was at University of Minnesota at the time as a part-time coach. I called him in, I think it was February. And I said, hey, what are you doing? He goes, I’m freezing my butt off. And I said, well, I go, you want to come down to, won’t you come down to Baltimore? He goes, well, I can’t come down there right now. It was puzzled a little bit, you could tell by.
me asking that. said, yeah, you can. I go, did you come down here if you had a job, wouldn’t you? And he goes, what? And anyway, he got hired there. And that kind of started, it kicked off his coaching career. And it was, it was ⁓ a great deal that we were able to be together there in Baltimore. And then when I went to Carolina, ⁓
It didn’t look like it was going to work out him being able to go to Carolina. ⁓ But ⁓ George Seifert was the coach at the Panthers, but I convinced and Scott O’Brien went also from the Baltimore to ⁓ to Carolina. We convinced George to take a chance on Darren. And ⁓ so he come in there and coach with us two or three years there before going on to he’s been at the Bengals ever since.
So yeah, it was very special.
Samson:
That’s such a cool story and I think the coolest part to me is that you were the one who got to be able to call him and tell him that you were hiring him.
Jerry Simmons:
Yeah,
yeah, I remember Ozzy going, goes, you want me to call? He goes, you want to call him? Or you want me to? And I go, no, let me call him. I want to call him. So yeah, it was very special.
Two farm boys from out in Kansas, population about 16, 1700, getting in the NFL together, that was pretty good.
Samson:
no doubt. mean, absolutely. I’d jump on that phone call immediately too.
Absolutely. And you guys were able to bring the farming mentality and show exactly what it means to work hard. I love that. That’s just so fantastic to me. You know, as we wrap up this podcast, I want to give you the opportunity to say whatever you would like to Dave and Linda to celebrate 50 years of Samson equipment. Is there anything that you would like to leave them with or message you would like to give them?
Jerry Simmons:
Sure, would do it. know, Dave and Linda, you guys have been instrumental, you know, in my career going from place to place in supply and equipment and good equipment that’s lasted and as we’ve talked about ⁓ through the years. I guess you guys have done so much for so many people along the way and I’m so happy for you. And 50 years is quite a stretch there and you guys have done a great job.
throughout the years and I consider you very good friends and thank you guys for everything.
Samson:
Well, that’s fantastic. And I already know that they respond in kind. I can tell you that as a proxy a little bit. I’ve got one final question for you, and I’m curious to hear this. Did you ever get a chance to beat South Carolina after taking that loss the first time?
Jerry Simmons:
Nope, it wasn’t a game in game. No, we didn’t get a chance for them to come out to SC and play us out at SC. No, it’s one game deal.
Samson:
⁓
Well, I hope ⁓ one day, maybe by some way or some purpose, you’ll be able to get the win over him. I don’t know how, but maybe it’ll work out one day. But Jerry, thank you. Thank you so much for coming on the show. I greatly appreciate you. It’s been fantastic to hear your stories and it’s been amazing to get to know you better and celebrate Sampson. So thank you for everything.
Jerry Simmons:
Yeah, yeah, I don’t either.
Yeah, well thank you and I appreciate it too. And we gotta keep Sampson going on for another 50 or more.
Samson:
absolutely. That’d be fantastic. Imagine getting to host the 100 year celebration. That’d be pretty fun for me.
Jerry Simmons:
Yeah, yeah, that would be good for you. I ⁓ won’t be around, that’d be good for you.
Samson:
Hopefully I’ll be around too. That put me in 79. Hopefully I’ll still be there too, but that’d be super fun. Thank you again, Jerry.
Jerry Simmons:
Yeah,
yep, no problem. Happy to do it.
