CEDAR CITY, Utah - After a successful season, Coach Todd Simon announced today that he will be leaving Southern Utah Athletics to take a head coaching job at Bowling Green. Since 2016, Coach Simon has transformed SUU's Men's Basketball program.
Athletic Director Doug Knuth said of Simon's departure, "The entire Southern Utah University and Cedar City community will miss Todd and Katie Simon and their children. We thank them for their service to our student-athletes, athletic department, and university. While we will miss them as colleagues and friends, we wish them all the best in their return to the midwest and know they will be SUU fans and friends for life."
Coach Simon said
"It was an honor and privilege to serve Southern Utah University for the past 7 years. My family and I have also grown our family here and built lifelong relationships.
We are extremely grateful for all of the student-athletes, coaches, administrators, students, faculty, fans, and alumni that have had a hand in building a perennial 20-win program that has elevated conferences and competed for championships.
Thank you to President Wyatt and President Benson for leading our university and to Jason Butikofer, Deb Corum, Todd Brown, and Doug Knuth for their outstanding athletics leadership. From the bottom of my heart, I say thank you Southern Utah, and thank you Cedar City for embracing us and believing in our vision."
Coach Simon made his way to Cedar City in 2016 after having served as the interim head coach at UNLV in the previous season. In his first year with the program, Simon led the Thunderbirds to a first-round win at the Big Sky Road to Reno Conference Tournament with a triple-overtime victory over Montana State. The Thunderbirds concluded the season with a 6-27 overall record and a 3-15 conference record. From there the program began to take off.
In 2017-18 the Thunderbirds finished 9-5 at home and ended non-conference play 6-5, marking the first time the team had finished above .500 outside of league play since the 2006-07 season. Coach Simon began to change the culture leading the Thunderbirds to become a powerhouse team at home and a year-over-year threat to win the Big Sky Conference.
The 2018-19 season marked the first .500 or better team for Coach Simon and his staff, with the T-Birds finishing 17-17. The fans in Cedar City also started taking notice more than ever before through the 2019-20 campaign, as the program set new records for all-time revenue, all-time highest average game revenue, and set records for the number of students in the student section on three separate occasions.
Coach Simon has led the Thunderbirds to an 82-43 record beginning with the 19-20 season. The T-Birds have also become a great team in the America First Event Center under Coach Simon posting a 72-29 record over his tenure making Cedar City one of the toughest places to play.
This season Coach Simon became just the second coach in program history to earn three 20-win seasons accomplishing the feat in back-to-back-to-back campaigns. He will leave behind a program that has continuously improved over his tenure.
Southern Utah will begin the search process promptly and associate head coach Flynn Clayman will lead the Thunderbirds in the interim. The T-Birds will be playing in the College Basketball Invitational this Saturday, March 18 against the University of North Alabama.
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