There’s no financial reward for the many hours that Chris Simler has put in working with the Bowling
Green Falcon women’s basketball team.
Yet the 2007 Bowling Green High School graduate wouldn’t have it any other way as he’s nearing the end of
his college experience.
For the last four years Simler has done all the video work for the scout-heavy women’s coaching staff. He
has expanded his role into some administrative tasks, working with the post players and learning more of
the X’s and O’s of coaching as he prepares for his post-college dream of teaching and coaching.
"There is a lot of time and effort behind the scenes without a lot of recognition, and certainly no
pay," BG head coach Curt Miller said. "They (student managers) don’t get thanked enough for
the amount of time and effort that they put in when we can’t monetarily support them.
"His reward is being around the team and the travel. He gets to go a lot of places with the team and
all the things that goes with team travel … All the fun places we get to go and the not-so-fun places
we get to go," Miller added.
Simler tries to be a typical college student, even with the time demands of basketball.
"I’m still able to hang out with my friends, a lot," Simler said. "I miss out on little
things like on St. Patrick’s Day hanging out on the porch.
"This definitely outweighs missing out on little things – getting the experience of traveling with
them and seeing other places."
At BGHS, Simler was a manager for boys coach Von Graffin, and when the high school bought a new video
system for basketball, Simler was doing the filming and editing.
"The university came over between junior and senior year to look at the system and see what they
thought of it. That’s how I met them; (it) was through explaining the system to them," Simler said.
"When it came down to choosing a college, I talked with coach Miller. As soon as he told me I could
come work for him, I was sold right there."
Miller said Simler has been a big part of the program from the beginning. The team currently has five
managers.
"From Day 1 he impacted our program a great deal as we had the new editing system, and he helped us
with all the video technology behind the scenes," Miller said. "It can’t be understated how
important that is and how much video this staff watches. He has made our jobs easier. He saves us a lot
of time and work, as assistant coaches and a head coach, with all the film work and video technology
expertise that he brings to our staff.
"His role has continued to develop throughout his four years, but what has increased the most
throughout his four years is the relationship with the team and the trust of the team," Miller
added. "He has become a major part of the family and a major part of the coaching staff."
With the Falcons, Simler breaks down the offense and defense for coaches.
"When they (the coaches) go back they can pull just their plays and see what they do, instead of
having to watch the whole thing through and try to figure it out," Simler said.
In addition to his managerial duties, Simler has been picking up tips from the coaching staff.
"He has approached me the last two years to be around more on a day-to-day basis to have more
exposure to the X’s and O’s of the game," Miller said. "So as he moves forward in a potential
coaching career, not only does he have the expertise of the technology and video behind the scenes, but
more exposure in the strategy and X’s and O’s of the game."
An adolescent and young adult mathematics education major, Simler plans to student teach in the Aldine,
Texas, school district next fall. Aldine, which has a co-op with BGSU, is located about 15 minutes
northeast of Houston.
"I’ll student teach and then they have a permanent substitute job until the end of the school
year," Simler said. "And then they go back and see where they need teachers. They have 75,000
kids in the school district and they are always needing teachers."
Until then he’s finishing things up at BGSU.
"This has been a great experience. It will be great four or five years down the line when I apply
for a coaching job and can write Curt Miller down as a reference," Simler said.