Simons was named the 13th head coach of the Vassar women's soccer program in June of 2021. The former Associate Head Coach at Wesleyan University, Simons came to Vassar following a two-year stint with the Cardinals.

Through three seasons in Pouhgkeepsie, Simons has posted a 25-16-11 overall record and a 10-8-9 mark in Liberty League play. Simons has mentored 13 All-Liberty League selections, five All-Region picks and seven Academic All-District selections. 

2023 saw Vassar record an 8-4-5 overall record and a 2-2-5 mark in league play while posting victories over ranked opponents Scranton and Wesleyan, both by 2-1 scores. Individually, four players were honored with All-Liberty League honors, inlcuding a Second Team selection for Noelle Namba. 

Six Brewers earned CSC Academic All-District honors in 2023 with Julia Farnham and Jessica Young each named United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-Region III. 

In 2022, Vassar produced an 8-5-5 record under Simon's watch, including a 4-2-3 mark in conference play, earning a seventh straight berth into the Liberty League Championship. Five Brewers went on to earn All-Liberty League recognition, including First Team citations for both Violet Munnelley and Jessica Young. 

Both Young and Munnelley would go on to earn All-Region selections from the United Soccer Coaches with Young adding a D3Soccer.com All-American selection,  CSC Academic All-Dstrict recognition and United Soccer Coaches Academic All-American honors. 

In his first season at the helm of the Brewers, Simons guided Vassar to a 9-7-1 overall mark, going 4-4-1 in Liberty League play. The Brewers advanced to the Liberty League Tournament for the sixth straight season, shouldering a tough overtime loss to Union in the First Round. Vassar opened the season with victories over NYU and Montclair State. The Brewers opened Liberty League action with a 1-1-1 clip against RIT, Bard and Union, before going on to post several critical league wins - including a North Country sweep of Clarkson and St. Lawrence.

Vassar, which finished fourth in the Liberty League in points (28g-20a-76pts), saw four named to the All-Liberty League Teams at season's end, including Second Team honors for senior Skylar Herrera-Ross and junior Jessica Young. Additional honors came for Young, who was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region Third Team, while 20 Brewers were tabbed to the Liberty League All-Academic Team.

Simons, who joined the Cardinals' staff in 2019, helped lead Wesleyan to one of the program's best seasons in recent memory as the squad achieved its best regular-season performance since 2011 with a 9-4-2 overall record and a 4-4-2 conference mark. Wesleyan set a new program record for longest unbeaten streak in a season with eight (6-0-2), surpassing the previous record of six that was set by the 1981 and 1993 teams. The Cardinals also won their third Little Three title and first since 1982. During that eight-game unbeaten streak, Wesleyan defeated the defending national champion and No. 1 ranked Williams, 2-1, at home and earned a national ranking, vaulting as high as No. 21 in the list.

As noted, Simons served as a member of Wesleyan's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee where he was an accountability partner for a number of Cardinals' athletic teams. He assisted squads in planning, preparing and executing DEI training and education. As a member of the committee, he helped implement two DEI training events per team, enabled each team to engage with other squads for DEI conversations, while also preparing teams to participate in a community service event.

Simons arrived at Wesleyan after previously serving as the head men's soccer coach at The Sage Colleges from 2016-18. His first season with the Gators proved to be very successful, as Simons guided the team back to the Skyline Conference Championship game, while coaching two Skyline Conference All-Star players. He followed his first year with a 10-6-2 overall record in 2017, en-route to the Empire 8 Conference Championship game.

Prior to arriving at Sage, Simons was an assistant men's soccer coach at Liberty League-rival Skidmore College for three seasons, where he helped lead the Thoroughbreds to a 32-18-6 overall record. He also guided the team to the Liberty League Championship two times in his three years. During his tenure at Skidmore, the squad was recognized twice with NSCAA Team Academic Awards, while the 2015 team was ranked No. 22 in the nation.

Simons was an assistant coach at Elmira for two seasons (2011 & 2012) before arriving at Skidmore, and also spent time as a volunteer assistant coach prior to that.

A 2010 graduate of Manhattanville College, Simons was co-captain his senior year and received the college's Male Scholar Athlete of the Year award. He was a three-time Middle Athletic Conference All-Academic selection and was NSCAA Scholar All-East Region Honorable Mention in 2009. He earned his master's degree in general management from Elmira in 2013.

Simons currently holds an NSCAA Premier Diploma, NSCAA Goalkeeping Level III Diploma and USSF National D License.

Simons At Vassar 

Year

Record (Conf)

Notes

2021

9-7-1 (4-4-1)

Liberty League First Round

2022

8-5-5 (4-2-3)

Liberty League First Round

2023

8-4-5 (2-2-5)

--

Total

25-16-11 (10-8-9)