COLUMBUS — A familiar face to Mississippi State and Golden Triangle sports fans has made his return to the region.

The Columbus Municipal School District announced on Monday the hire of Barrin Simpson as the newest head football coach at Columbus High School.

“It’s home,” Simpson said. “I wanted to have an opportunity to come back home, be around family, as well as get a chance to give back to the community. … Back when I was in high school, Columbus was a talented football team. They’ve always had talent here in Columbus. That opportunity to be part of it, I’m excited.”

Simpson replaces Josh Pulphus, who led the Falcons for five seasons but resigned following a one-win 2023 season that saw Columbus go winless in district play.

Simpson comes to Columbus having most recently coached at Timber Creek High School in Fort Worth, Texas, one of five high schools and six stops in Texas that he’s made in the past decade of his coaching career.

“Coach Simpson has had an incredibly successful career in football, both as a player and a coach,” athletic director John Davis said in Monday’s press release. “When we first met with him, his understanding of the game and his passion for educating students were incredibly apparent. He’s the right person to lead this program and we’re excited for the success he will bring to our district.”

The Golden Triangle is no stranger to Simpson, who graduated from Starkville High School and won back-to-back state championships with the Yellow Jackets in 1994 and 1995.

He went on to have a prolific career at Mississippi State, where was one of the best linebackers in school history, earning first team All-American honors in 1999. In his four-year Bulldog career, Simpson recorded 296 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, five sacks, 30 quarterback pressures and three interceptions. He was named a Southeastern Conference Legend in 2019.

Simpson then went on to have an incredibly successful professional career, first playing for the San Francisco Demons of the original XFL in 2001 before an 11-year career in the Canadian Football League.

“It is my hope that the school community, business and philanthropic constituents find him to be a tailor-made fit for the diverse population of students that we service,” CMSD Superintendent Dr. Stanley Ellis said in Monday’s press release. “Coach Simpson has a place he’s ready to implement that will have a noteworthy impact on our scholar athletes’ moral and social character.”

While playing in the CFL for the BC Lions, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders, he was a seven-time CFL All-Star, 2001 CFL Rookie of the Year and the league’s leading tackler five times.

That experience will be invaluable as he comes into a program that hasn’t recorded a winning season since 2015 and one that’s been to the playoffs just seven times in the 21st century.

“It’s a big advantage, just knowing what it takes to get there and being able to duplicate that,” Simpson said. “It’s one thing for players to be good at what they do, but it’s another thing to reproduce that type of production into everyone else. That’s something I take pride in, that mentorship.”