Jason Lawrence Simmons (born March 30, 1976) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former

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who is the defensive pass game coordinator for the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

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for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

and was selected by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

in the fifth round of the

1998 NFL draft The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

, later playing for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

. Simmons' coaching career began in 2011 as a defensive assistant with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

, later having stints with the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

and

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

College career

He was a four-year

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for

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

, earning second-team All-

Pacific-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

honors as a senior.

Coaching career

Simmons began his coaching career as a coaching administrator (defense) for the Green Bay Packers in 2011. After one season in that capacity, Simmons was promoted to defensive assistant (secondary), a position he held for 4 years (2012–2015). In Simmons first stint on defense, the Packers tallied 94 interceptions. Serving in a dual role in 2015, Simmons began assisting with special teams and was named assistant special teams coach (2016–2017) where he helped the Packers special teams units excel across the board. During this span, two different punters (T. Masthay, J. Vogel) eclipsed the Green Bay Packers all-time single season net punt average, the punt unit ranked second in the league in opponent punt return average (5.7), and they were second in the league in yards per punt return (10.7) in 2017. In 2018, Simmons returned to the defensive side of the ball serving as the Packers' secondary coach, helping the team finish 12th in the NFL in pass defense – a significant improvement after Green Bay finished 23rd in the category in 2017. Under Simmons' watch, Alexander led the team with 11 passes defensed and finished second in tackles (64) in just 13 games, earning him a spot on the PFWA's All-Rookie team. He spent 2019 as Green Bay's defensive backs coach, where he helped the team advance to the NFC Championship game and finish the regular season tied for 3rd in the league in interceptions, 3rd in completion percentage allowed, 4th in pass breakups, 5th in forced fumbles, tied for 5th in fewest passing touchdowns allowed and 6th in defensive passer rating. Cornerback Kevin King totaled five interceptions on the year (t-4th) with 15 passes defensed (t-8th). Cornerback Jaire Alexander added two interceptions and finished tied for fourth in the league in passes defensed with 17. Darnell Savage was named to the PFWA All-Rookie team after starting all 14 games he appeared and recording 61 tackles, a tackle for loss, a team high two forced fumbles, two interceptions, seven passes defensed, a QB hit and two QB pressures. Simmons joined the

in 2020. He worked as a defensive pass game coordinator and secondary coach for the

in 2022 before leaving for the

as a defensive pass game coordinator the following year.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Washington Commanders profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Jason 1976 births 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen African-American coaches of American football American football safeties Arizona State Sun Devils football players Carolina Panthers coaches Coaches of American football from California Green Bay Packers coaches Houston Texans players Las Vegas Raiders coaches Living people Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Los Angeles County, California Washington Commanders coaches