Recruiting Areas: South Jersey, Texas (Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio), Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, South Carolina
David Sims enters his fourth season as running backs coach in 2024.
The Quakers wrapped up a 6-4 overall record in 2023, going 3-4 in one of the most competitive Ivy campaigns in conference history, in which Penn had a shot to play for an Ivy championship up until the final whistle of the penultimate weekend of the year. The Red and Blue began the season with back-to-back road victories over Colgate (20-6) and Bucknell (37-21) and rounded out the unbeaten non-conference slate with a 42-39 overtime win over Georgetown at Franklin Field. Penn knocked off Columbia, 20-17, and took down Yale, the reigning Ancient Eight champs, for a second straight year, 27-17. The Quakers won on Homecoming by defeating visiting Cornell, 23-8, to hold onto the Trustees' Cup for the second year in a row.
Sims coached freshman running back Malachi Hosley to becoming the program's first Ivy League Rookie of the Year honoree since 1993. Also a Freshman All-America, Hosley ran for 723 yards and seven touchdowns on 121 carries, ranking second and third in the Ancient Eight, respectively. He was named Rookie of the Week a program-record five times in 2023, including FedEx Ground FCS National Freshman of the Week after totaling 261 rushing yards—the third-most in program history and the most by a freshman back—with two TDs on 21 carries against Cornell. One of those scores—a 96-yard house call—was the longest offensive play in program history. Hosley totaled 969 all-purpose yards and was named a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award, given to the National Freshman of the Year in FCS football.
In 2022, Penn completed a very successful season, going 8-2 overall with a 5-2 record in Ivy play. Recording the program's most victories since 2010, the Quakers ended the year with a second-place finish in the Ivy standings. Penn won its first six games, going 6-0 to start a season for the first time since 2003. Victories included a double-overtime, 23-17 thriller against Dartmouth on national television, a 34-14 home win over Columbia, a 20-13 homecoming victory against eventual Ivy champion Yale and a come-from-behind, 20-19 win at #22 Princeton to close out the year. Under Sims' guidance, senior running back Trey Flowers was a First-team All-Ivy selection. Flowers had a season-high 149 yards rushing at Georgetown earlier in the season and was named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week once.
In 2021, Penn went 3-7 with non-conference victories at Bucknell and at home versus Lehigh. The Quakers defeated Bucknell, 20-0, and it marked Penn's first shutout since the 2009 team capped a perfect Ivy League season with a 34-0 win over Cornell. The Red and Blue scored an Ancient Eight win at home versus Brown thanks to defeating the Bears, 45-17. During the year, Isaiah Malcome was honored as the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week on October 11 and Garrett Morris was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week on November 1. Seven Quakers brought home All-Ivy honors, highlighted by Prince Emili and Brian O'Neill bringing home first-team accolades.Â
Sims comes to Philadelphia after servings as a running backs coach at Furman University for the past four years. In his first season with the Paladins, he was instrumental in the notable improvement of All-SoCon performers Antonio Wilcox and Kealand Dirks, who combined to play a key role in the Furman's 8-5 season and FCS playoff appearance.
In 2018, Furman claimed a share of the SoCon championship — the 14th in program history. Sims oversaw a backfield that rushed for over 265 yards per game in 2019 as the team secured an FCS playoff berth and AFCA Coaches No. 19 final ranking.
Prior to Furman, he worked for two years at NCAA Division II Shorter University. With the Hawks, he served as assistant head coach and directed the program's fullbacks and quarterbacks while also serving at the team's academic coordinator.
At Shorter, he helped the Hawks finish seventh in the country in rushing in 2015, averaging 280.4 yards per game for an offense that featured running back B.J. McCoy, a first team all-conference selection, USA College Football All-America honoree, and finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy — Division II's Heisman equivalent.
"I'm humbled and happy to join Coach Priore's staff here at Penn," said Sims. "The opportunity to be a part of a prestigious University with a great football pedigree is an amazing opportunity, and I'm excited to be a part of the Penn family."
Sims was a three-year starter as a running back at Georgia Tech from 2011-13. During his senior season, he served as team captain and earned honorable mention All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) honors after rushing for a team-leading 884 yards and 12 touchdowns. Sims finished his career ranked 11th on Georgia Tech's rushing charts with over 2,200 yards and tied for seventh in rushing touchdowns with 23.
Hailing from South Carolina, Sims racked up an impressive resumé as a quarterback at Calhoun High School, where he helped lead the Saints to three region championships and earned All-State recognition as a senior prior to playing in South Carolina's North-South All-Star Game. He graduated as the Calhoun record holder in season passing touchdowns (37), career passing yards (5,800) and career rushing yards (2,800).
Sims graduated from Georgia Tech University with a bachelor's degree in management in December of 2012.
