Former Missouri Southern head football coach Jeff Simms will receive nearly $110,000 in administrative leave pay and severance, the university announced on Tuesday. Last month, Southern relieved Simms of his duties, providing no reason for the dismissal. He guided the Lions to an improved record of 2 and 9 in his only season at the helm in 2019. This after M S S U went 0 and 11 in 2017, and 1 and 10 in 2018. There was no MIAA football season in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Simms’s contract called for the university to pay his annualized base salary of $125,000 through the end of this month. And to accommodate the 60-day notice of termination. He made nearly $10,500 in December and again in January, along with a $90,000 lump severance payment. Former Missouri Southern player and linebacker coach Joe Bettasso has been named interim head football coach.