What a long, strange trip it was for the UTM Skyhawk football team this season.

First-year head coach Jason Simpson was the sixth coach of the Skyhawks since it became an OVC team in 1992. The team hadn’t won any conference championships or played a postseason game since 1988.

In fact, despite having a winning season in 2005, the Skyhawks were picked in the 2006 preseason polls to finish near the bottom of the OVC heap after losing former head coach Matt Griffin to Murray State.

The trip appeared tough, but the tough guys prevailed.

Simpson led his pigskin pack to its first OVC championship in history, as well as to the university’s first postseason game in 18 years. In that game, at first dominated by the Skyhawks, the team lost 36-30 to No. 10-ranked Southern Illinois University, but came within 57 seconds of a trip to Montana and a Top 8 national finish.

“You hate coming out on the losing end in a game that was so tight,” Simpson said. “I am so proud of our kids. I am proud of our university. I am proud of administration and our fans. I thought our kids represented us well today and gave us a chance to win at the end.

“We are a very physical team. We are a tough team, mentally tough,” he said. “I knew we weren’t going to be shell shocked to be in the playoffs.”

The Skyhawks entered the NCAA Division I playoff game ranked No. 12 in the nation and with a 9-3 season slate. The team’s trip up through the rankings since its decisive victories over Gardner-Webb and Jacksonville State marks the first time the team has been ranked nationally since becoming a I-AA team in 1992.

Perhaps the sweetest moment of the season, however, beyond the rankings and the publicity, was UTM’s 42-14 romp over Griffin’s Murray State squad to clinch the OVC championship and the automatic berth in the Division I playoffs.

“I went to work the day I got the job on Dec. 21,” Simpson said. ‘We talked to our seniors about being OVC champions, and how it was a realistic goal. These guys responded to all the changes in the spring and bought into our system.

“This is a great group of seniors. We have 18 guys who are good quality people, and good quality players,” Simpson said. “I’m thankful to help get them here (OVC championship).”

Simpson also has notched a couple of “wins” of his own, placing fourth among a field of 16 coaches who were named finalists for The Sports Network’s Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award. At midseason, Simpson was named I-AA’s best coach by Matt Dougherty, executive director of I-AA football at The Sports Network. The final award winner will be announced Dec. 15.

Along with numerous team and individual records set during the regular season, Simpson also set a record by being the only UTM head football coach to win nine games in his first coaching season. Bob Carroll, the legendary coach who took a UTM team to the Tangerine Bowl in 1967, won six games in his first season.

As the offensive coordinator at UT Chattanooga, Simpson’s previous job, he helped the team post its first winning record since 1997. A native of Mississippi, Simpson will take his Skyhawks to his alma mater, Southern Miss, for the first game of the 2007 season. Meanwhile, the team can bask in the glow of its winning season.

“I’m just so happy for the community of Martin and West Tennessee,” Simpson said.

“They have a champion.”

Information for this report contributed by UTM’s Office of Sports Information.