Simpson University announces first-ever football coach
![Simpson University President, Dr. Norman Hall [left], shakes hands with the newly-appointed, first-ever Football Coach, Shawn Daniel [right], during an announcement at the Student Union on Dec. 14, 2022. (KRCR, Mike Mangas){ }](/resources/media2/3840x2160/3840/648/0x0/80/8c02d9c9-7c8b-458b-b7ef-4890577a9ed7-coachpkg.transfer_frame_779.jpeg)
REDDING, Calif. — Redding's Simpson University announced its first-ever coach for the brand-new football program on Wednesday.
Dr. Norman Hall, president of the university, initially announced the addition of the football program in late September.
The new coach is Shawn Daniel. He says the first step will be building his staff, then recruiting student-athletes.
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"I want to be in all the local high schools this week—all the local high schools. You know, if you're within a 30-mile radius, I'm going to be in that high school and I'm going to be talking to the high school's head coaches," Shawn Daniel told KRCR. "I want local kids. I want as many local players as we can to build this football program. We want to build this with kids within an hour radius."
A total of six candidates were invited to visit the campus to interview, and Shawn Daniels rose to the top.
"When we interviewed Shawn, he had great experience from similar geographic regions, lots of ability to start a new program, a great attitude and unending energy. So, we're confident he's going to be the right guy," Dr. Hall told KRCR.
Simpson being a private Christian university, Shawn says there's more to recruiting than athletic ability; It also involves values and morals.
"I get to see where they stand in their faith; I get to see where they stand in their values, just in what they believe and what they stand for. And then, spending time with their families, spending time with their high school head coach, and watching their game film, that's how you can tell their athletic ability and their talent. So, it's not one over the other—they're all equal. When you recruit, you don't recruit a football player just to play football, you're recruiting the whole athlete, which is their athletic ability, their academics, what they can do, as well as what their faith and belief is," Shawn Daniel explained to KRCR.
Simpson will have to be able to change the soccer goals to goalposts. The Red Hawks will scrimmage in the fall on the school soccer field and may also use local high school fields.
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