When Ryan Simmons walks to practice each day, the reminders are everywhere.

In Manley Field House, he passes the Roy D. Simmons Sr. Coaches Center, named after his great-grandfather. On his trip to the practice field in Ensley Athletic Center, he passes a statue of Roy Simmons Sr. and Roy Simmons Jr., his grandfather. When Ryan takes the field for the Orange, he wears the No. 16, just as his father, grandfather and great-grandfather did at one point.

“You kind of grow up going to the Dome and idolizing guys from day one,” Ryan said. “And you kind of have a thought that maybe I can do that one day, maybe that’ll be me under the helmet. To actually be able to do it, it’s pretty special, you kind of live your goal, live your dream.”

When Ryan chose Syracuse, he joined the second-winningest program (902 wins) in college lacrosse. A Roy Simmons has been on SU’s coaching staff for 786 of those, dating back to 1931. Roy Sr. and Roy Jr. both won more than 250 games as head coaches at Syracuse. Roy Jr. was the second-leading scorer, behind Jim Brown, at SU in 1957 as a player for his father, and won five national championships as a coach. Roy III played four seasons for his father and spent multiple stints as an assistant coach for Syracuse.

Now, Roy III, Ryan’s father, is the director of lacrosse operations at SU. Ryan is a fifth-year senior. The Orange has one more regular season game before it will most likely advance to the NCAA tournament – so within a matter of games, the fourth generation of Simmons to play lacrosse at Syracuse will be over.

“As much as we try to minimize the legacy of it and let people decide for themselves,” Roy III said, “… I know I’ll reflect years from now and say wow, wasn’t that fantastic?”

When Roy Jr.’s kids, Ronald and Roy III, were growing up, they learned lacrosse by playing with each other in their backyard. It was never forced on them, Roy III said, but it was logical for them to fall for the sport that their father and grandfather had coached.

In the same vein, Ryan and Roy IV, his brother, took up the Simmons torch of backyard lacrosse. Those games were often preceded by trips to the Carrier Dome to watch Syracuse. Then, back at home, the brothers attempted to replicate what had just happened on the field.

“I kind of always wanted it to be lacrosse,” Ryan said. “It wasn’t really forced on me, but growing up with my older brother, I kind of idolized my brother and coming to work with my dad and going to games with my grandpa and my dad. From day one it became one of those things I wanted to do.”

Growing up, Ryan played on youth teams — playing up to stay in Roy IV’s age group — and then into high school at Fayetteville-Manlius before a prep year in Connecticut at Salisbury School.

In 1952-54, Roy Jr. spent his final three years of high school at Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire. Roy Jr. remembered his father telling him that he could get away from the Simmons shadow and find some independence. Roy Jr. said that the same was true for Ryan.

“He didn’t have to go home at the end of the day,” Roy Jr. said. “He was Ryan Simmons, which didn’t mean a lot there.”

Being the fourth generation of a legendary lacrosse family brings pressure with it, Roy III and Roy Jr. said. But Ryan thought his brother had it way worse off than he did.

Ryan felt that he had it easy because he wasn’t the fourth Roy Simmons, which he viewed as much more pressure-packed than his situation. Ryan, though, said the pressures of being a Simmons were eased by having close relatives in lacrosse royalty. It’s the perk of being a Simmons.

“Any time I felt pressure,” Ryan said. “If I needed someone to talk to, there were plenty of ears that I could go to. And all the advice in the world that I could ask for, I had all the answers I needed.”

Since Ryan arrived at Syracuse in fall of 2013, his father has continued as a member of SU’s staff. Despite Roy III’s open door just down the hall in Manley, Ryan hasn’t sought guidance much.

The pair can sometimes go a week without talking, Roy III said, and he doesn’t mind that.

“He doesn’t walk through (my door) that often,” Roy III said. “… Sometimes he just wants to hang out and chat, and other times there are things that he wants to talk about, important things. Job opportunities and stress of exams and papers and things like that.”

Leaving for prep school gave Simmons a start of independence, at least athletically. Finding time away from his family and the lacrosse culture he always knew has helped him grow.

“Being in your own hometown and your father is right here,” Roy III said. “I think the more separation we can have, the more normal it is.”

Roy Simmons III holds the Kraus-Simmons Trophy in April after SU beat Hobart. It’s named in part after his grandfather, Roy Simmons, Sr.
Josh Shub-Seltzer | Staff Photographer

Ryan always followed his older brother’s footsteps, but things changed this season. Prior to his fifth and final year at Syracuse, Ryan’s teammates chose him as a captain.

Roy III described Ryan as “a pretty laid-back kid.” Former SU attack Sergio Salcido called Ryan “very quiet.” But being captain has forced Ryan to become more vocal, he said.

Simmons found his voice at an opportune time for Syracuse in his redshirt senior year, before triple overtime of the Army game on Feb. 24 when he spoke to SU assistant coach Kevin Donahue about rotating the midfield lines. Roy III remembered Donahue telling him about the exchange postgame.

“Do you think it’s time to try somebody else?” Roy III said Ryan asked Donahue.

“There’s no freaking way my kid did that,” Roy III told Donahue.

Donahue assured him Ryan did, and whether it was because of the question or not, Ryan was on the field for the third overtime.

As Ryan streaked down the middle of the field and caught a long pass from goalie Dom Madonna, neither his father nor grandfather was sure that it was him. The clear moved fast, and Roy III, positioned on the sideline at the other end of the field, and Roy Jr., in a box above the stands at about midfield, had poor vantage points. When the shot flew into the back of the net, Roy III and Roy Jr. thought someone else must have scored. It was triple overtime and Ryan was a second-line midfielder.

Moments later, a mass of white and orange jerseys surrounded Ryan. He’d just walked off the game in triple overtime.

“Somebody said to me, ‘I think that was your grandson,’” Roy Jr. said. “I said, all I see is just a sea of jerseys and jubilation here. Let’s wait ‘till the crowd clears off him and see who’s on the bottom. Sure enough, he stood up and it was him.”

It was the 16th goal of Ryan’s SU career. Roy III said that as a father, he sometimes wishes Ryan saw the field more. But on that day, Ryan brought back the Simmons magic of old.

“Played four tough years, not being a hero,” Roy Jr. said. “But a hero for one game that was very important in the Carrier Dome in front of his grandfather and father, there’s a lot to be said for all that.”

Roy Simmons, Sr. (left) pictured with his son, Roy Simmons, Jr., when Simmons wore No. 15 as a player for Syracuse on the same team as Jim Brown. Daily Orange File Photo

During the recruiting process, different schools checked in with Roy III about Ryan’s availability. The SU coaching staff didn’t aggressively recruit Ryan, Roy III said, because they assumed he’d always be coming. They were right.

“I always knew that I wanted to go Orange,” Ryan said.

After five years, Ryan’s Syracuse career is coming to an end. Roy Jr. and Roy III know that the Simmons legacy will be put on hold following Ryan’s graduation. They’ve discussed that it won’t be until Roy IV or Ryan has a son who eventually heads to Syracuse that the legacy could continue to a fifth generation.

“Maybe down the road we’ll get a Simmons kid back in an Orange jersey,” Roy IV said.

Ryan is finalizing plans to head out to California to pursue a career in real estate. But Syracuse is “always home,” he said, and he didn’t rule out coming back to coach.

When Ryan chose Syracuse, Roy Jr. was happy because “the tradition wasn’t going to die out for a while.” Now, as the light flickers on Ryan’s Syracuse career, his grandfather feels “honored and blessed.”

“I lived long enough to have a grandson who showed me what it was like to be a young Simmons in this era,” Roy Jr. said.

Published on May 4, 2018 at 6:52 pm

Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3