ASU hires John Simon as running backs coach
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TEMPE, Ariz. -- John Simon has been hired as running backs coach on Todd Graham's staff at Arizona State.
Simon had spent three seasons at Southern Miss, working with ASU's new offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, before being hired as wide receivers coach at Louisiana-Lafayette on Feb. 5.
Simon mentored a pair of 1,000-yard rushers at Southern Miss in 2015 -- Jalen Richard and Ito Smith -- and the Golden Eagles were one of just five programs in the Football Bowl Division to have two running backs collect at least 1,000 yards on the ground.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Simon spent two seasons as a running back in the NFL -- 2002 with Tennessee and 2003 with Washington -- after his college career at Louisiana Tech. He began his coaching career at Franklin D. Roosevelt High School in Dallas in 2008.