Rogers State University Men's Soccer

Jake Simpson wrapped up his first season as the RSU men’s soccer head coach in 2025.   Simpson's first season at the helm was historic for the Hillcats. They finished with an impressive 14-4-5 record (8-2-2 GAC/MIAA), securing second place in both the conference regular season standings and the conference tournament. Additionally, they earned their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.   In 2025, for the first time in program history, Rogers State hosted NCAA Tournament games at Soldier Field after earning the No. 2 seed in Super Region 3. The Hillcats celebrated the milestone with a pair of 1-0 victories over No. 17 Cedarville and No. 15 Lincoln, advancing to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for their best finish in program history.   Alex Laing was named a D2CCA Second Team All-American, the GAC/MIAA Defensive Player of the Year, and an All-GAC/MIAA First Team selection. Louis Bassett received a USC All-American Third Team nod and joined Laing and Artur Carvalho on the All-GAC/MIAA First Team. Overall, the Hillcats garnered nine all-conference and nine all-region honors in 2025, while Brandon O'Rouke and Jaxon Kendall were recognized as CSC Academic All-Americans, a distinction also earned by Simpson during his time as a student-athlete at RSU.   Simpson took over for legendary head coach Derek Larkin, who stepped away from coaching and into an administrative role for the Hillcats at season's end in 2024. Simpson is no stranger to the men's soccer program as he played a large role in building it to its current state as a player and most recently as associate head coach.   In 2024, the Cambridge, England native helped guide RSU to their best season in program history, making it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time. The Hillcats finished the season with a 9-5-7 record and won their second GAC/MIAA Regular Season title with three players picking up individual awards from the conference.   Simpson came home to the Hill after spending the 2023 season as an assistant coach at Oklahoma Christian. While in Oklahoma City, he helped guide the Eagles to its second-straight appearance in the Lone Star Conference Tournament semifinals. He also coached a First Team All-South Central Region and LSC Freshman of the Year, among six other All-LSC selections.   In his first three seasons on the Hillcat bench, he helped the Hillcats to three-straight appearances in the GAC/MIAA Tournament, including the GAC/MIAA Regular Season and Tournament Championships during the Spring 2021 season, climbing as high as No. 9 in the USC Coaches Poll during the Fall 2021 season.   Simpson began his coaching career as an assistant at Rogers State in 2020. He joined the staff after wrapping up his playing career with one of the best individual seasons Rogers State athletics has ever seen.   In 2019, Simpson was recognized on the national scale several times. The honors included United Soccer Coaches All-America Third Team, CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team, CoSIDA Academic All-District Team, United Soccer Coaches All-Central Region First Team and D2CCA All-Central Region First Team.   Simpson broke two school records in his senior season. He put 37 shots on goal and finished with 36 points for the season, averaging 1.8 points per game.   Simpson also received several conference honors, including All-GAC/MIAA First Team, GAC/MIAA All-Tournament Team, GAC/MIAA Distinguished Scholar Student-Athlete, and Three-time GAC/MIAA Offensive Player of the Week   Simpson's past honors include All-Heartland Conference Third Team, Selected CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team, United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-West Region honors in 2017 and in 2016 he was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) NCAA Division II Men's All-South Central Region Second Team and All-Heartland Conference First Team.   Simpson played in 59 games for the Hillcats and started in 57 games. He would total 4,729 minutes of playing time on the pitch. He scored 27 goals in his career on the Hill, with 14 of those goals coming in his final season.   Simpson graduated from Rogers State in 2019 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sports Management with a concentration in Fitness.   He and his wife Alex reside in Owasso, Okla. with their daughter Savannah, and son, Harrison.

Rogers officially became a Hillcat in the spring of 2025. His coaching career began with the Tulsa Nationals from 2007-2009. He then transitioned to the West Side Alliance organization, coaching there from 2010-2013 and returning from 2016-2020. He also served as a coach for Blitz from 2013-2016.   At the high school level, Rogers was the head coach at Verdigris High School from 2009-2011 and then led the Edison High School boys' team from 2014-2023, guiding them to the state finals in 2021. In 2024, he coached at Union High School.   In the summer of 2023, Rogers coached the Tulsa Athletic. Under his leadership, they won the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) Heartland Conference regular season and tournament titles, the NPSL Midwest Region championship and the NPSL National Championship - all of which were won on Soldier Field.    A Tulsa native, Rogers graduated from Catoosa High School in 2002, where he played under Hillcat Hall of Fame Head Coach Derek Larkin.  Rogers played at multiple schools at the collegiate level, starting at Hartwick College (N.Y.) before transferring to the University of Central Arkansas, where he started 18 of 19 games in the midfield. He later redshirted during his junior year at Northeastern State University before starting 36 of 40 games in midfield and center back positions.   He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Northeastern State University and a master's in educational administration from the University of Arizona.    Rogers is married to Katrina Rogers and is a proud parent of four daughters: Chloe (17), Remy (11), Parker (6) and Presley (6). They reside in Claremore.