Title: | Assistant Coach/Quarterbacks |
The Trine University football staff brings collegiate and professional coaching experience to the team with quarterback coach Dan Simrell. Coach Simrell became a member of the Thunder football staff in 2011.
Over the summer, Coach Simrell served as head coach of the Bologna Warriors of the National Football League of Italy. He led the team to a 10-1 record and to an appearance in the Italian SuperBowl XXVIII.
Coach Simrell arrived at Trine after serving as head football coach at NCAA Division II University of Findlay from 2000-2006. In 2002 he was named the Region 3 Division II Coach of the Year.
Prior to coaching at Findlay, Simrell served as the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at West Virginia. In his eight seasons at West Virginia, the Mountaineers made it to five bowl games and were the 1993 Big East Champions.
Coach Simrell spent seven seasons as the head coach at NCAA Division I University of Toledo. The team earned a Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship under his leadership, and he was once named Ohio Coach of the Year and MAC Coach of the Year. In 1996, Toledo honored Simrell with an induction into the University of Toledo Hall of Fame.
As a football player at Toledo, Simrell was named team captain and most valuable player in his senior season. After college he was taken in the National Football League draft by the Cleveland Browns.
He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from Toledo.