This is for visitors and young Berrien fans alike. Though there is a lengthy coaching history that has been typed out, this is a quick synopsis of Stanley Simpson and what he meant.

Every community has a coaching legend. Newton County has Ron Bradley. Dan Pitts is synonymous with Mary Persons. Blakely Thornton spent a lifetime in Ludowici. Simpson is ours.

When he arrived in 1961, sports were loved. Simpson made them an event. He made them mean everything. After winning the sub-region crown in 1963, he had 80 boys try out for basketball the next year. And he didn't just build great teams. He made great people. Boys (and girls) wanted to be just like him. He even kept the crewcut fashionable into the late 1960s.

He took the games seriously, but not as life and death. Simpson never received a technical foul as a high school coach. His players only received two and one was when George Sorrell dunked the ball in Camden County. The games were fun. He kept things loose. One of his inbounds plays resembled a football formation with a line of players shielding the shooter behind them. On one night, he had the line go down into a lineman's stance. Just to entertain the crowd. The press loved him for his humility and for his sense of humor.

Berrien had great coaches before and great coaches after the "Ramrod", but none with as big an influence. He built the program. In turn, the program built him and he never forgot it.

Simpson was just as civic-minded as he was in the coaching department. He was very active in the Nashville United Methodist Church and just a person that everyone loved an relied on.

Stanley Simpson coached the Rebels and Rebelettes from 1961-71. With the girls he was 207-64. The boys went 175-91 in his reign. Overall, that's 382-155.

He was at Middle Tennessee State University from 1979-84 as head coach. There, he went 71-66 and beat Kentucky in the 1982 NCAA tournament.

New content: In the early days of Simpson's first season, he penned a story for the old Nashville Herald. Except for the part about the gym, the article holds up today: