Men's Soccer
- Title:
- Head Coach
Steve Simmons completed his ninth season as the head coach of the Oregon State men’s soccer program in the fall of 2017. Simmons was relieved of his head coaching duties upon conclusion of the fall season after compiling a record of 67-82-15 at Oregon State and a mark of 190-166-31 in 20 years as a head collegiate coach.
Simmons coached the Beavers to several highlights in his ninth season, including four wins over ranked opponents. Oregon State bested No. 17 UNLV on a golden goal from senior Jordan Jones in the 2017 Hensor/Zaher Classic and added a 2-0 victory over No. 17 Pacific to wrap up the conference schedule on Sept. 22.
OSU added two of its signature wins over ranked opponents in Pac-12 play, including a 2-1 overtime win against No. 17 Cal on Oct. 19 thanks to junior Hassani Dotson's game-winner, and closed the campaign with a 4-3 comeback win over rival No. 20 Washington on Senior Day.
The 2017 season concluded with five Beaver members on the All-Pac-12 teams as Jordan Jones, Jalen Markey and Don Tchilao making the second team while Hassani Dotson and Eric Diaz were both honorable mentions. Academic awards were also prevalent as seven members made the Pac-12 All-Academic team, including three first team selections in Nathan Braaten, Jaime Miralles and Timmy Mueller, with Dotson, Jones, Tchilao and Loke Strenov making the honorable mention team. Braaten would go on to make the CoSIDA Academic All-America second team.
During his tenure, the Beavers have produced three MLS SuperDraft first round picks, including 2010 overall No. 1 Danny Mwanga and 2015 No. 2 overall pick Khiry Shelton. In January 2013, Emery Welshman joined the professional ranks after a superb two-year stretch in Corvallis when he was selected by Toronto FC with the 16th pick in the first round. Former OSU defender Colin Mitchell was also taken in the 2013 MLS Supplemental Draft.
Simmons has won 63 games in his first seven seasons, including leading the Beavers to the best season in school history in 2014, as the Beavers won their first ever NCAA Tournament game after finishing the season 12-8-1. Oregon State earned some big results on the year, including a pair of wins over No. 7 California and a road win over No. 9 Washington.
The Beavers’ 2014 success was reflected in the postseason awards, as Khiry Shelton was named Pac-12 Player of the Year, and Timmy Mueller earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors. Shelton would go on to earn numerous All-America honors, before being selected with the second overall pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft. Will Seymore also entered the professional ranks during the draft, going to FC Dallas in the third round.
Simmons led the team to a 9-6-3 record in his first year with the Beavers, and compiled a 5-4-1 Pac-10 record to finish second, their highest finish in conference play since 2002.
That season saw the best player in school history, Danny Mwanga, lead the Pac-10 in goals scored to earn several All-America honors and become the first Oregon State player to be named Pac-10 Player of the Year. He was also selected No. 1 overall in the MLS SuperDraft by the Philadelphia Union to become just the second Oregon State student-athlete to be drafted first in their respective sport, joining Heisman Trophy winner Terry Baker who was selected No. 1 overall in the Los Angeles Rams in 1963.
After a posting a 6-11-0 mark in 2010, Simmons’ 2011 squad went 5-11-2, but compiled a 3-6-1 conference mark to finish tied for fourth in the ultra-competitive Pac-12. Showing steady improvement, the 2011 group swept the Bay Area schools in a single weekend for the first time in eight years; notched its first back-to-back Pac-12 wins since 2009 and its first overtime win in two seasons. Oregon State’s 2012 squad was one of the better defensive groups in school history, tying a Beaver record by allowing just 22 goals, a number which was matched yet again in 2013. OSU began that 2013 campaign with six straight wins at Paul Lorenz Field to set a school record for consecutive home victories.
The aforementioned Welshman continued the strong lineage of potent OSU strikers in Simmons’ third and fourth seasons at the helm of the Beaver program. The transfer led the team in nearly every offensive category both years and at the conclusion of the 2011 campaign, became just the fifth player in Oregon State history to earn a spot on the conference's first team, joining current professionals Mwanga (2009), Robbie Findley (2004-05), Ryan Johnson (2004-05) and Alan Gordon (2002-03).
Following a 10-goal, 24-point season in 2012, Welshman became the first Beaver to make the All-Pac-12 First Team in back-to-back years since Findley made it three straight from 2004-2006 and was the first Pac-12 player selected in the 2013 SuperDraft.
Several Oregon State men’s soccer players have also excelled in the classroom in the first five years under Simmons as 19 student-athletes have earned Pac-10/12 All-Academic honors, including John Swenson, Jake Parker, Josh Smith, Travis Anderson, Daniel Van Vleet and Jackson Groves, all of whom have been selected to the First Team. The Beavers had five student-athletes earn spots on the Pac-12 All-Academic Team in 2013, including three on the First Team.
Anderson was also the first Beaver men’s soccer player in three years to be named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team when he received the distinction in 2011 and became the second Oregon State CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2012. Josh Smith followed him up in 2013 to give the Beavers back-to-back academic All-Americans.
Prior to arriving at Oregon State, Simmons compiled a 59-47-3 record in six seasons as the head coach at Northern Illinois. In his final five years there, the Huskies won 56 matches, the most-ever in a five-year span in school history, won the Mid-American Conference Championship, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and had 24 players honored with All-MAC accolades. The Huskies won at least 10 games in four of his seasons and also defeated No. 9 Northwestern, 2-1, in double-overtime.
Simmons was named the 2006 Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and was the first finals for the NSCAA Coach of the Year in school history. He was also twice honored as the MAC Gary V. Palmisano Coach of the Year.
His 2006 campaign at NIU was the best in school history as the team won a school-record 15 games, including a 9-0-0 mark at home, won the school’s first-ever MAC Championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship. Goalkeeper Joe Zimka set an NCAA Division I record by allowing just 0.21 goals-per-match and recorded 14 shutouts, tied for the most in the nation. The Huskies were also ranked as high as No. 19 by the NSCAA.
Prior to his arrive at Northern Illinois, Simmons spent two season as associate head coach with Oregon State under head coach Dana Taylor. During his stint, the Beavers climbed to No. 18 in the national polls in 2002 and earned the school’s first trip to the NCAA College Cup that was highlighted by victories over No. 6 California and No. 12 Tulsa for a 13-8-0 record.
Simmons moved to Corvallis after a successful five years as the head coach of both the men’s and women’s soccer programs at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore. He took over a men’s team that went 1-15-0 in 1995 to lead them to three seasons with double-figure wins, including a 21-1-1 mark in 2000 when the team advanced to the Final Four before losing to the eventual national champion.
He began his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater, Concordia University-Portland, in 1990 and went to Gonzaga University in 1994 as an assistant coach before earning his first head coaching position the following year at Division III Whitworth College in Spokane, Wash. Simmons led Whitworth to a 9-8-2 record in his first season to earn Northwest Conference Coach of the Year honors before moving on to Linfield.
As a collegian at Concordia, Simmons netted first-team All-America honors from the National Christian College Athletic Association and NAIA Academic All-America recognition as a senior. He was a two-time NAIA Northwest All-Region selection and was honored with Concordia's Male Athlete of the Year Award in 1990 and was selected to the school's Athletics Wall of Fame in 1993.
A graduate of Chugiak High School in Eagle River, Alaska, Simmons earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Concordia in 1990. He received a Master of Arts in Physical Education from Gonzaga in 1996.
Simmons and his wife, Maria, reside in Corvallis with their three children, Keagan, Jordan and Katey.
