Francis Simmons enters his fourth season as the Head Coach of the Bethune-Cookman University women's basketball team.

A hard working student and coach of the game, Simmons is respected amongst his peers for his knowledge of basketball. He has over 30 years of coaching experience under his belt.

The Walterboro, South Carolina, native comes to Bethune-Cookman after spending seventeen seasons as an assistant coach for the men's basketball team at South Carolina State University, in Orangeburg, South Carolina. During his first ten seasons at SCSU, Simmons served as a part-time assistant coach. In 1997 he was promoted to a full-time position with the Bulldogs. In 2004, he was promoted again to the Associate Head Coach position. During his tenure, he was a vital aspect of the Bulldogs coaching staff, helping to guide the team to five Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championships and as many NCAA tournament appearances.

Prior to joining the SCSU coaching staff Simmons served as an assistant coach at Georgetown University under legendary coach John Thompson. Simmons joined the Hoyas coaching staff in December, 1985. During his tenure, he helped guide the Hoyas to a pair of Big East titles. He also assisted Coach Thompson during the 1988 Olympics, with Thompson as the head coach of the United States team.

Simmons is a 1971 graduate of Voorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina. A standout player at Voorhees, he earned All Conference honors among several other athletic awards.

Simmons and his wife Fanni are the proud parents of three children: Christina, Jason and Corey.