263 Notable Coaches Jeff Morgan coached the men’s basketball team for 30 seasons and became Harding’s athletic director in 2018. During his coaching tenure, Morgan’s success was recognized on the conference and national level. Morgan led his teams to 21 postseason tournament appearances, including seven national championship appearances. His success in the 2000s was capped off with a Gulf South Conference (GSC) West Division Team of the Decade award in 2010. The Bisons tallied three regular-season conference championships and won the 2014 Great American Conference (GAC) tournament as the No. 5 seed under Morgan. Furthermore, the Bisons achieved some historic victories under Morgan’s leadership. The Bisons defeated the No. 2 ranked team in the country twice under Morgan– first against the University of Montevallo in 2004 and second against the University of Alabama-Huntsville in 2012. Before his retirement in 2023, Morgan served as the longest tenured coach in the GAC and ranked in the top 20 for career victories among active Division II coaches. Before his coaching career began, Paul Simmons displayed his talent on the gridiron for the Bisons from 1991 to 1994. Simmons became the first and only Harding football player to earn first team All-American honors three times. He was inducted into the Harding Sports Hall of Fame as a player in 1999. However, Simmons came back as defensive coordinator and defensive line coach from 2006 to 2016 before becoming the head coach in 2017. In his first season, Simmons led the Bisons to their first semifinal appearance in the NCAA Division II national tournament. In 2021, Simmons won his first GAC regular season championship with a conference record of 10-1. Two years later, Simmons led his team to the top of the college football world. The Bisons finished the season 15-0 and defeated Colorado School of Mines in the final game of the season on Dec. 16, 2023 to capture their first national championship in program history. Simmons coached three All-Americans during the historic season and earned American Football Coaches Association National Coach of the Year. Before returning to Harding as a head coach in 2012, Meredith Fear represented the Lady Bisons as a libero from 2004-2007. The two-year captain earned multiple All-GSC honors and currently sits as Harding’s career leader in digs per set with 5.02. Fear will enter her 13th season as head coach of the Lady Bisons volleyball team in fall 2024. Fear’s previous 12 seasons were nothing short of successful for Harding’s volleyball program. During Fear’s tenure, the Lady Bisons have won seven GAC regular season championships and three GAC tournament championships. Fear has collected three GAC Coach of the Year awards and coached three AllAmericans. In 2018, the Lady Bisons achieved their biggest victory under Fear, defeating the University of Nebraska at Kearney in the first round of the NCAA Division II national tournament. In 2022, the Lady Bisons finished the season 30-2 and broke the school record with a 28game winning streak. Jeff Morgan Paul Simmons Meredith Fear
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==