Roy Simmons Jr '54 Honored by Syracuse University
Syracuse's men's lacrosse head coaching position will now be called 'The Roy D. Simmons Jr. Head Men's Lacrosse Coach. Simmons Jr. led the team to a 253-130-1 record, before turning the program over to his son in 1971.
Simmons Jr., who was a two-time USILA Honorable Mention All-American, graduated in 1959 and coached the freshman team for 12 seasons before taking over the varsity program. Once there, he led Syracuse to unprecedented success and transformed Syracuse into the storied program it is today.
He's the first coach to win six NCAA titles and one-of-two to win three-straight national titles. In his time leading the program, 131 players earned All-American honors and 11 former players have joined him in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
On Saturday Syracuse also unvelied a statue erected outside of the Ensley Athletic Center to immortalize Roy Simmons Sr. and Roy Simmons Jr., a father-son tandem who combined to coach the storied Syracuse men's lacrosse program from 1931-1998 and transform it into a national power, will have
"The Simmons family is the first family of American lacrosse," said Director of Athletics John Wildhack. "The lineage starts with Roy Sr., who won three National Championships as a lacrosse student-athlete and was a the head coach for Syracuse's National Championship boxing team and an assistant coach for the 1959 National Championship football team. The impact Roy Jr. had on student-athletes through the breadth of his intellect and how he educated his student-athletes in so many creative and impactful ways far transcends how many games and championships he won."
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He's the first coach to win six NCAA titles and one-of-two to win three-straight national titles. In his time leading the program, 131 players earned All-American honors and 11 former players have joined him in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
On Saturday Syracuse also unvelied a statue erected outside of the Ensley Athletic Center to immortalize Roy Simmons Sr. and Roy Simmons Jr., a father-son tandem who combined to coach the storied Syracuse men's lacrosse program from 1931-1998 and transform it into a national power, will have
"The Simmons family is the first family of American lacrosse," said Director of Athletics John Wildhack. "The lineage starts with Roy Sr., who won three National Championships as a lacrosse student-athlete and was a the head coach for Syracuse's National Championship boxing team and an assistant coach for the 1959 National Championship football team. The impact Roy Jr. had on student-athletes through the breadth of his intellect and how he educated his student-athletes in so many creative and impactful ways far transcends how many games and championships he won."
