While coaching at Marietta High, Dexter Wood spotted the barrel-chested 16-year-old in the hallway and thought he could help the football team.
It turned out that Jess Simpson could.
“I saw something special in him,” Wood said.
Simpson remembers that day fondly.
“Dexter said, ‘I know who this is,’” Simpson recalled. “‘This is Jess Simpson, and he’s going to be a great player here.’ Those are the first words he ever said to me.
“He’s one of those guys, who sees the best in people, gets the best out of people. Certainly, one of my greatest blessings in life was having him as a coach, mentor and father figure in my life.”
Fast forward a few decades, and the kid has grown up. He has turned into a coaching legend, has a family and after a brief stint at Georgia State, was named the Falcons’ assistant defensive line coach Tuesday.
“We’re ecstatic in Buford,” said Wood, the athletic director who helped to build one of the state’s high school football powerhouses and turned it over to Simpson in 2005.
Simpson, who’s the son-in-law of former Falcons team chaplain Charles Collins, won seven state titles over 12 seasons and posted a 164-12 record (.932).
Under Simpson, the Wolves appeared in 10 consecutive state finals, despite moving from Class AA to Class AAAAA over the last five years. In total, Simpson spent 22 yards on the Buford staff, helping the Wolves to 10 state titles as a head or assistant coach.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn and Simpson’s paths first crossed at the University of Florida in 2011. Simpson was visiting Gainesville, Fla., to check on a former player.
“He came down to visit with (Falcons assistant coach Bryant Young) and I when we were at Florida,” Quinn said. “We went out that evening and then the next day. We were just going through everything (defensive) line. I remember leaving that interaction and thinking that guy is a hell of a coach.”
Quinn, who came up as a defensive line coach in the NFL, kept in touch with Simpson through recruiting.
“That spring I came up to watch practice,” Quinn said. “I left there thinking that’s the best high school practice that I’ve ever seen.”
When Quinn left Florida to become Seattle’s defensive coordinator, he stayed in touch in Simpson.
“When I got back here, not long after I was here, I said, ‘man, let’s keep up,’” said Quinn, who hosted the first Friday Night Lights practice of his tenure at Buford. “After that we kept up and I saw him coach, I saw him teach. Then we did clinics together.”
But after last season, Simpson, with his kids out of the program, took a job on Shawn Elliott’s new staff at Georgia State in December. He said it was tough leaving the Panthers after his short stint.
“I really appreciate coach Elliott and (athletic director) Charlie Cobb with the opportunity that they gave me,” Simpson said. “It was hard to tell those guys because I developed some really great relationships in just a short, short time with those assistants and those players. We were having a lot of fun.
“There is no doubt in mind that in the next few years Georgia State football is going to do some big things. I’m looking forward to watching them win a Sun Belt championship.”
After the Super Bowl, the Falcons elected to part ways with defensive line coach Bryan Cox and hired Young to replace him. Quinn decided to see if he could land Simpson, too.
“I knew how good he was,” Quinn said.
After playing at Auburn, Simpson started his coaching career as student assistant on the Plains under Pat Dye and Terry Bowden.
He spent a year (1994) at Marietta High under Wood before moving to Buford in 1995. He was the defensive coordinator and strength coach from 1995-2004 before taking over as head coach the following season.
The Wolves, powered by running back Darius Walker, won three consecutive state championships from 2001-03 and set the Georgia high school record with a 47-game winning streak from 2001-04.
“I look forward to working with the players and the fellow assistants,” Simpson said. “I’m excited about my job description. It’s to work on football. Break down tape. Work hard and do anything that can help support the whole defensive staff.”
Quinn believes that Simpson’s teaching methods will work with pros.
“The ability to communicate and articulate what you are trying to get taught to the players translates,” Quinn said. “I saw that from coach-to-coach and I also saw that coach-to-player.”
Young, a prospective Pro Football Hall of Famer who played defensive tackle and end, was a player with the 49ers when Quinn was an assistant coach on Steve Mariucci’s staff. Young, who played at Notre Dame, also coached with Quinn at Florida.
He sat out the past four seasons as his son, Colby, battled pediatric cancer. He died in October, and Young was ready to get back into coaching.
“When he was done playing, he and the family took their time and then he knew for him to give back to the game, pay it forward so to speak, the game had rewarded him, he was ready to give back to the game,” Quinn said.
Young coached at Notre Dame and San Jose State before joining Quinn at Florida.
“When his son Colby got sick, he was able to be with him during the time that Colby needed him most,” Quinn said.
Quinn, who coached from 2001-04 with the 49ers, felt lucky that he could add Young.
“He was going to coach somewhere this year,” Quinn said. “It might not have been here, but when the (opportunity) came … that’s where it became really clear that he was the best guy for the opportunity.”
Young, 45, played for the 49ers from 1994-2007. He played in 208 games and had 89.5 sacks over his career. He was one of 94 modern-era nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2017.
“Man, are we fortunate to have him here,” Quinn said. “As a player, he kind of set the standard for what a professional was to me.”
With Young and Simpson working together, Quinn believes that he can expand the team’s developmental — Plan D — program.
“That part of putting in the extra work for those guys is really important so that when their number is called to deliver, they can,” Quinn said. “I want to go even bigger and stronger with the program moving ahead.”
