Jason Simmons will be leaving his position as head football coach in order to coach at Ben Davis High School, and for the second time in two years, Noblesville High School will be in search of a new head coach.

    Simmons, while transitioning to his new position in Indianapolis, will continue to be the Dean of Students at NHS until the end of the school year. In the meantime, he must deal with the difficult task of leaving the career he’s had in Noblesville for nearly six years.

    “The hardest part about my decision was leaving the people here. I have great relationships with our players, with our school staff, with our community, and with the parents,” Simmons said.

    The announcement of Simmons’s departure was greeted with both congratulations and sadness, from players and staff alike.

    “It stinks for me personally after we hired a new head coach, because it will be my third [head coach] in four years. Coach Simmons and I had a close relationship, while he also had [a relationship] with many other guys. It hurts a lot, but I wish him the best of luck at Ben Davis,” NHS junior quarterback Grant Gremmel said.

  Assistant Athletic Director Tony Oilar says that Simmons’s departure does not diminish the positive impact he’s had on the high school’s football team. However, the school still needs to begin its search for a new head coach.

    “Obviously, the quicker the better, but we want to take our time and find the right guy. I’m sure we will have applicants from all over the state and we will have good applicants,” Oilar said.

   Simmons said he was glad to have the opportunity to work again at Ben Davis, where he worked as an assistant coach for three years and as the assistant athletic director for two years, and to go back to the relationships that he developed during the previous two times he worked there.

    “I see us hopefully growing into developing young men just like we [are] trying to do here,” Simmons said.