Former baseball standout finds out he is the next Edison High coach while in Miami
.jpg "Brandon Simon was hired to be the Edison High baseball coach.")
Brandon Simon was sleeping in a hotel room in Miami when he received a phone call about the good news he was hoping for.
Never mind that the ringer is always on no matter the time: He answers the phone.
And it’s a good thing he did because he was told that he is the new Edison High baseball coach.
Simon will lead the way after serving as an assistant under Jeff Prieto at Clovis North.
“Every year I’ve been at Clovis North and schools have contacted Prieto and asked to talk to me,” Simon said. “I turned down multiple schools every year. At this point, in the situation Edison was in, I told myself, I had to take it.”
He said his reasoning for taking the Tigers job is because the “time was right” and he’ll be back where he played many years ago under former Tigers coach Cliff Rold.
Rold retired in 2022 after coaching Edison for 31 seasons, amassing 414 victories.
Johnny Quiroz served as the coach this past season.
Simon hopes to turn around the Tigers after Edison finished the season 8-20-1 overall and 5-10 in the County/Metro Athletic Conference.
Simon was in a Miami because he and his wife were set to go aboard a ship for a cruise.
Simon played for Edison on the varsity level from 1995-1998 then at West Hills College in 1998. He was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2000 MLB draft and spent time in the minor leagues until 2005.
He returned to Edison from 2006 to 2016 before he was hired at Clovis North to be the outfield coach in 2017.
Edison athletic director Hector Verduzco said Simon’s focus on developing young players stood out.
“We look forward to his passion for developing leaders, developing skill, expecting and demonstrating accountability more than anything, continuing to ensure that our youth develop the love of the game and use it as a tool to further enhance their opportunities academically and athletically,” Verduzco said.
Simon said he learned a lot from Rold and Prieto and will use some of their knowledge to help the Tigers.
“That’s the whole reason: I started to coach so I can give back and give the kids the knowledge that I learned along my way in my journey in the minor leagues,” Simon said. “That’s my main thing: Just give it back to the kids.”
