Former high school football coach and hall of famer Jim Simser dies at 85

Jim Simser, a member of the Minnesota Football Coaches Hall of Fame, died on Oct. 18. Simser, who lived in Fairmont, Minn., was 85.

Simser coached at New Richland-Hartland and Fairmont High Schools for 32 years before retiring following the 1999 season.

During his 22 seasons as the New Richland-Hartland coach, his teams won two Class B state championships (1976 and 1978) and made state tournament appearances in 1980 and 1985. Following the state championship in 1978, he was the named the state’s High School Coach of the Year.

In the fall of 1990, Simser became the coach at Fairmont, replacing Tom Mahoney, who had retired. At the time of his retirement, Mahoney was the winningest coach in state history with a career record of 256-94-8 in 38 seasons.

Simser directed Fairmont to a 73-29 record in 10 seasons and had three teams (1992, 1996 and 1997) make appearances in the state playoffs. Simser, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000, had a career record was 223-91-1.

Simser, a graduate of Blue Earth High School and Mankato State College, served in the U.S. Navy and the Naval Reserve.