Michigan State assistant DL coach Antjuan Simmons expected to be hired by Saginaw Valley State as LBs coach
Simmons was retained at MSU by Pat Fitzgerald, but found an opportunity to lead his own room at SVSU.
Antjuan Simmons — a former Spartan linebacker who most recently worked as Michigan State's assistant defensive line coach — is expected to be hired by Saginaw Valley State (Division II) as linebackers coach, sources tell Spartans Illustrated.
He will work under first-year head coach Michael Engle with the Cardinals. Simmons is expected to officially join SVSU in February.
Newly-hired MSU head coach Pat Fitzgerald had previously retained Simmons on his 2026 coaching staff as assistant defensive line coach, where Simmons would have worked closely with new defensive line coach Winston DeLattiboudere III. However, Simmons will now have the opportunity to lead his own room as a primary position coach at Saginaw Valley State.
Sources tell Spartans Illustrated that MSU plans to hire a new defensive line analyst to fill the role vacated by Simmons.
Simmons was originally hired at Michigan State in 2023, where he worked with the linebackers as graduate assistant under then-head coach Mel Tucker and then-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Scottie Hazelton.
In 2024, Simmons was retained as a graduate assistant by then-head coach Jonathan Smith, but he transitioned to working with the defensive line, assisting defensive line coach Legi Suiaunoa. In January of 2025, Simmons was promoted to his most recent role of assistant defensive line coach under Smith and Suiaunoa. He served in that position throughout the 2025 season and during the coaching transition from Smith to Fitzgerald.
Prior to MSU, Simmons coached in the high school ranks. He began his coaching career mentoring linebackers at his alma mater, Pioneer High School (Ann Arbor, Michigan) in 2021. He coached linebackers at John Glenn High School (Westland, Michigan) in 2022. While coaching at John Glenn, Simmons also worked at Adams Middle School in Westland as a behavioral specialist and as the school's athletic director.
Simmons was a standout linebacker and four-year letterwinner for the Spartans from 2017 through 2020, playing under Hall-of-Fame head coach Mark Dantonio for three seasons and under Tucker for one year. In 46 career games played, including 20 starts in a row, he recorded 231 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two interceptions, seven passed defended, one forced fumble and three fumble recoveries. Simmons, a team captain, was a second-team All-Big Ten selection as a senior in 2020.
