Congratulations our own, Coach Larry Simcox, on receiving the Jim Painter Lifetime Achievement Award by the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association. Coach was presented the award on Saturday, January 21, 2023 at the annual TBCA Coaches Clinic in Franklin, TN.
After receiving the award, Coach Simcox recapped in his own words:
“I was honored yesterday by the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association with the Jim Painter Lifetime Achievement Award. Very thankful and very humbling! I’m so glad that my dad could be there as he is the one who taught me how to play and love this great game of baseball. Mom couldn’t make it but she has always been so supportive.
With every married baseball coach that’s done it for awhile, there’s a great baseball coaches wife. Linda and I will be married 40 years this September and she has been a big part of this. As a college coach you are gone so much at the office, recruiting, games on the road and camps. What a job she has done being there for Erin and AJ ALL of the time and raising two great kids! Thanks babe!
I also want to thank Jake Gibbs for getting me started in coaching! I played for Jake at Ole Miss in 1980 and 1981 after transferring from Cleveland St CC. After playing at Ole Miss I played in the Astros organization from 1981-1984. After being released in 1984 I went to work with Selox in Chattanooga and transferred to Huntsville, AL in January 1985. I never thought I would be around baseball again.
Then I got a phone call that June. It was Jake calling me to tell me he wanted me to come coach with him at Ole Miss. I told him I would have to talk to Linda about that. He said talk to her and if you are interested I’ll come over and visit with you. After hanging up I told Linda that I’m going to go coach at Ole Miss (baseball was still in my heart). She said ok and I called Jake back 5 minutes later and told him if you want me I’m in. We moved to Oxford in August 1985 and have been in baseball ever since.
From there we came to Tennessee in August 1990 and coached with Rod Delmonico, going to the CWS 3 times and winning a couple of SEC Championships. Jeff Senzel approached me in 2008 about opening Diamond Baseball and we did that in January 2009. I went back to Tennessee in July 2015 to Coach with Dave Serrano and returned to Diamond Baseball in September 2017.
I have been really blessed to coach so many great young men at Ole Miss, Tennessee and Diamond Baseball and be on staff with so many great coaches and men.
This great game has given me so much and I hope I have given back a fraction of that!”