Loyola’s Brett Simpson repeats Southern States Athletic Conference AD of the Year

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Loyola University New Orleans athletics department continues to see success under Athletic Director Brett Simpson, and in return, Simpson was named the 2019-20 Newk’s Eatery Southern States Athletic Conference Athletics Director of the Year Wednesday. The honor was Simpson’s second of its kind, earning the SSAC AD of the Year award last spring as well.

Simpson has collected three awards of this caliber in the past year. First, he was named the SSAC AD of the Year in May 2019, then the NACDA NAIA Under Armour Athletics Director in March before Wednesday’s honor.

“The award is a testament to the hard work of our student athletes, coaches, and administrative staff,” Simpson said. “We have tremendous partnerships across campus with our faculty and staff supporting Wolf Pack athletics. We also have fantastic donors who make a great impact on our ability to pursue excellence in the classroom and competition. I’m grateful for everyone’s contributions.”

The Loyola athletics department saw multiple conference championships and national tournament qualifiers before the winter and spring sports were cut short. Men’s cross country and competitive dance each won SSAC Championships – the fourth straight for dance – and multiple more competed for the top spot in the league. Men’s cross country, competitive cheer, competitive dance, and men’s and women’s basketball all represented Loyola and the SSAC in national events, and men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s golf and women’s tennis were all nationally-ranked teams. Counting the swimming programs, which competes in the Mid-South Conference, Loyola had seven teams qualify for nationals and currently has six nationally-ranked teams in its department.

The Wolf Pack athletic department continues to see success in the classroom. Under Simpson, the department boasted a 3.152 GPA covering all 18 sports, as 16 of the 18 teams had at least a team 3.0 GPA, topping the 2018-19 academic year by one more team. Women’s tennis led the way with a 3.512 mark, while men’s golf saw its highest GPA since the 2014-15 academic year. In total, 167 student athletes earned Scholar Athlete status in 2019.

Simpson played baseball at Loyola before joining the coaching staff as an assistant until 2011. He climbed the athletic department ranks for 15 years before being named Director of Intercollegiate Athletics on August 1, 2014.

Soon after receiving his new appointment, Simpson launched an ambitious plan to grow the Wolf Pack Athletic Department into one of most robust in the NAIA. He inherited a department that boasted 14 sports and 147 student-athletes. With the addition of men’s and women’s swimming and competitive cheer and dance in 2016-17, the Wolf Pack grew to 18 intercollegiate sports and over 250 student-athletes.

Under his leadership, the Loyola athletics department has captured 15 conference championships and Loyola has also been named a Champions of Character school every year Simpson has been the AD.

Simpson graduated from Loyola in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications/public relations and went on to receive a Master of Business Administration from the University in 2003.

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