Steve Simpson enters his third season with the University of the South Field Hockey program in 2021-22. He is the 13th coach in the program's history, and he has compiled a 6-11 all-time record. Entering his fourth season as a collegiate head coach, he has an 11-23 record. 

In two seasons with the Tigers, he has coached three All-Region selections with the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) and four All-Conference honors. 

In the classroom, the program has achieved the NFHCA National Academic Squad in his first two years at the helm, while 12 were selected to the NFHCA National Academic Squad. In terms of the Southern Athletic Association (SAA), 17 have been listed on Academic Honor Roll. 

Sewanee was unable to participate in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Tigers were able to practice throughout the year. Nine student-athletes were named to the SAA Academic Honor Roll, and six were listed on teh NFHCA Academic Honor Squad. The team was also listed on the NFHCA Team Academic Award for the 13th time in the team's history, including an 11th straight season.

In Simpson's first season on the Domain in 2019, he led the team to a semifinal appearance at the SAA Tournament after a double overtime victory over Transylvania in the opening round.

Four Tigers garnered All-SAA honors, with three of those four athletes were named All-Region by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA). 

Academically, eight Tigers were named to the SAA Academic Honor Roll. Six players were named to the NFHCA National Academic Squad, while the team collected the National Academic Award for the 10th consecutive year.

A veteran field hockey player, umpire and coach, Simpson recently served as an assistant coach at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. for the past four years. The 2018 season saw him as an interim head coach for the Big Red.

While at Cornell, he was a part of a  pair of top-three conference finishes. He also helped the Big Red close a campaign with a top 20 RPI and a top 20 strength of schedule (SOS) for the first time in program history, finishing at 19th overall in both categories at the end of the 2015 season.

Having nearly 25 years of experience with the sport of field hockey, Simpson served as an assistant coach with the University of Maryland (1995-2003, 2013-14), the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (2003-07), University of New Hampshire (2007-10) and Syracuse University (2011-12).

Simpson spent the previous two seasons with national power Maryland, helping his alma mater to a combined record of 41-6, a pair of conference titles, an ACC Tournament title, and consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the 2013 Final Four.

At Maryland, he joined the staff in a full-time capacity as an assistant coach in 1995 and stayed on through 2003. During that time, he helped Maryland win the 1999 national championship and advance to four Final Fours.

Prior to his latest go-around with Maryland, Simpson spent two years as an assistant coach at Syracuse (2011, 2012), where he helped lead the Orange to a 38-7 combined record, one BIG EAST Tournament title, one BIG EAST regular season title, two NCAA Tournaments, and one Final Four. Simpson joined the Syracuse staff after a four-year stint as an assistant at New Hampshire in which the team won the America East regular season title in 2010. Prior to UNH, he worked at UMass, where he served as assistant coach from 2003-06.

Simpson also has international coaching experience, most recently being selected to assist with the US U19 team during the 2015-16 season. He was also an assistant with the U.S. Women's National Team (1997-98) that included the Hockey World Cup in May 1998 and the Champions Trophy in 1997. In addition, he has coached at numerous "A" and "B" Camps and been active in the USFHA Futures Program, including serving as Regional Director and Director of Coaching of the Chesapeake Region.

He also founded and coached the Washington Wolves Hockey Club.

Along with coaching the sport of field hockey, Simpson was an internationally-rated umpire manager for the sport. He earned his FI International Umpire training and served in that role form 1985 to 2005.

Some of the events he served as a field hockey umpire include the Indoor World Cup in Leipzig in 2003, the Pan Am Games and the Pan Am Cup and the World Cup qualifier in Edinburgh in 2001.

Simpson graduated from the University of Maryland in 1988.

What People are saying about Stephen Simpson:

Ange Bradley - Head Field Hockey Coach, Syracuse University
Steve is a total teacher of the game. He will very much build culture and build standards.

Anna Crumb - former player and current assistant coach at James Madison University
I'm so excited for him and think he will do great things at Sewanee. Steve has a great sense of the game and knows how to pinpoint student-athlete strengths to then encourage them to work on their weaknesses to get the best out of each individual.

Updated 11/24/21