MARTIN, Tenn. (BP) – Jason Simpson remembers the “aha” moment for his son, Ty.
It was three springs ago, in ’23. Jason had driven down from Martin, Tenn., where he is in his 20th season coaching UT Martin, to Tuscaloosa, Ala. Ty had signed to play for Alabama after a 5-Star high school career and, with the Heisman winner Bryce Young now in the NFL, felt it had become his time to start under center for the Crimson Tide.
Ty was tested in this practice, though. He made a mistake. Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees made his displeasure loud and obvious for all.
“I could see the frustration on his face,” Jason remembers. “He was down and didn’t have a whole lot to say. God put it on my heart that this wasn’t a time to talk about football.”
At Ty’s apartment, father turned to son and asked a question.
“Hey, how is your walk with Christ right now?’”
Youth, and success
Simpson is a coach not shy to talk about his faith. A member of First Baptist Church in Martin, he has served as a deacon, taught college ministry classes and spoken at church organizations.
He also isn’t unfamiliar with the pressures of being a quarterback. Jason went to Mississippi State as one during the Rocky Felker and Jackie Sherril years (yes, he was there for Sherrill’s team lesson involving livestock – IYKYK). He ended up transferring to Southern Miss, where he played baseball for the Golden Eagles.
Simpson was an assistant coach at Jacksonville State, Texas State and UT Chattanooga before getting the head coaching nod at UT Martin in 2006. All he did that first season was go 9-3, win the Ohio Valley Conference title, qualify for the FCS playoffs for the first time in school history, be named OVC Coach of the Year and become a finalist for Eddie Robinson FCS Coach of the Year.
“I’m 34 years old and thinking I’ve got this thing figured out,” he said. “I’ll be the head coach at Notre Dame in a couple of years.”
But that didn’t happen. There were options here and there, but they didn’t feel right. Still, the plan wasn’t to be in the same place for 20 years. Like it would for his son years later, anxiety would set in because the big step never materialized.
But other things took shape. He put down roots. Ty, his sister Emma (a UTM sophomore) and little brother Graham (a high school sophomore quarterback with offers from Bama, Ole Miss, Oregon and Miami) grew up in the same house. Simpson got to coach Little League. He missed only two of Ty’s high school games.
“The anxiety left me when God put something in my heart,” Simpson remembered. “He said, ‘You may only coach in front of 2,000 people sometimes in Martin, Tennessee, but I’m giving you 100 kids in the building you’ll see every day. You get to have a spiritual influence on them.
“‘This is your path.’”
High school success
Ty was athletic and a standout in whatever sport he tried. By the time he was in eighth grade, offers came. Jeremy Pruitt wanted Jason and Ty in Knoxville. Jim Harbaugh wanted Ty to suit up for Michigan.
The offers kept piling up during his junior season. Ty asked Jason why he didn’t have an offer from UTM yet to go with those from all the big-time schools.
“I would joke with him and say, ‘You’re not coachable,’” laughed Jason. “’You couldn’t play for me.’”
Ty eventually finagled a deal – if he threw for 300 yards and ran for 200 in the same game, would that make him Skyhawk material?
Jason agreed, and of course, Ty did just that to earn his UT Martin offer.
Ty led Westview High in Martin to the 2A state championship his senior year while being named the Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year. On signing day, a UTM hat joined those from Alabama, Clemson, Ole Miss and Tennessee. During his announcement, Ty took a brief glance in the direction of the Martin cap before reaching to other side for the crimson one.
Learning to trust
“How is your walk with Christ right now?”
In that moment, Ty told The Walk Podcast, he didn’t know what to do.
“[This was] the game that I love [and] I wasn’t playing very good,” Ty said.
Jason’s question caught him off guard, but it made him think. He hadn’t been trusting God. Talking with him and understanding that there was a plan. This was the plan.
Ty prayed that night for the anxiety to go. Let him play the game he loved to honor the Lord.
This summer, Ty was named QB1 for the Tide in a stick-it-out story one sees less and less in the portal era. After an opening-game loss to Florida State, Bama reeled off eight wins in a row, including four straight weeks against ranked opponents, to rise to No. 4 in the rankings. He had an off day on Nov. 5 against Oklahoma, as three turnovers led to 17 points in the 23-21 loss to the Sooners.
Ty has thrown for 2,934 yards this season, with 22 touchdowns to only four interceptions. Projections say he could be a top 5 draft pick in next spring’s NFL draft.
God gave Jason Simpson a platform in Martin, Tenn. Ty’s became somewhere else.
“I told Ty that if he ever became the starter at Alabama, he was going to be in front of a hundred thousand people. When a microphone got in his face, he would be speaking to millions. I told him that if he didn’t take that opportunity to honor God, he’d be missing out. God wants to honor you with those blessings.”
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