In Memoriam: Coach Rich Simpkins
In late November of 2025, Richard Simpkins passed away. He will be remembered as a beloved debater, coach, mentor, brother, son, and friend.
Coach Rich taught hundreds of BrainMaster and ModernBrain students since July 2022, but he coached and judged debate for over 35 years. His students were well-respected across judges, circuits, and states. They won in speech and debate, in front of laypeople and experts.
He worked at TFA, UIL, and NSDA speech tournaments, was tournament director for the SMU Symposium Classic from 2004 to 2007, volunteered to coach a new team at Singley Academy (which won the UIL district championship for Lincoln-Douglas debate that year, the first year of the team’s existence) and consulted for Hebron High School for over six years.
Beyond debate, Simpkins served as partner and outreach coordinator for the online book selection engine, WorldsWithoutEnd.com, for the past 20 years. Every story is itself an argument, and that’s how he has approached his bookish endeavors, as well. Rich believed that there’s no avenue of research that doesn’t benefit from broad historical and literary context.
