Missouri’s New Starting Quarterback Showed The Utmost Class With Powerful Final Gesture At Ole Miss

Austin Simmons did not have the college football season that he had hoped. The heir to Jaxson Dart’s throne at Ole Miss was replaced by Trinidad Chambliss after an injury and later transferred to Missouri.

However, the 20-year-old quarterback never let the frustrating circumstances get him down.

Simmons showed the utmost class during a difficult situation. He will soon get a fresh start to his college football career with a new program in a different state but he will not soon be forgotten in Mississippi.

Who is Austin Simmons?

Although Simmons was rated as a four-star prospect in the recruiting Class of 2023, there was a lot of hype about his potential to be the next great signal-caller at Ole Miss after Matt Corral and Dart. He was only 17 years old at the time. Yes, you read that correctly.

The 6-foot-3 lefty reclassified by two years from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2023. That allowed him to graduate from college at the age of 19 after skipping two grades.

It was very clear that Simmons was going to be something of a project upon arrival to Oxford. He was young and inexperienced. There was still a lot to learn.

Simmons was also one of the top-ranked baseball recruits in the country out of high school so he played both sports as a freshman. The Rebels used him a lot out of the bullpen as one of their best relievers.

Lane Kiffin ultimately convinced him to shut it down so Simmons quit baseball to focus on football.

There was a lot of hype about Ole Miss during the preseason. Simmons was going to light it up at quarterback, especially after he led the offense to a crucial touchdown drive against Georgia last season.

But things did not quite go according to plan.

Not only did Simmons start slow out of the gates with four interceptions in the first two games, he suffered a severe ankle injury that forced him to miss time. Trinidad Chambliss took over and just kept winning. Kiffin never committed to the latter over the former but Chambliss forced his hand. Simmons was relegated to the backup position.

You can’t teach character.

A lot of players in Austin Simmons’ position would’ve thrown in the towel. He never did.

It probably helped that he was getting paid a lot of NIL money at Ole Miss, but still.

Simmons continued to prepare for each and every game as if he was the starter. He was always ready if called upon— like when he completed four of five passes for 64 yards during the playoff game against Tulane while Chambliss was dealing with a minor injury.

All of his teammates can speak to who he is as an individual. Chambliss had nothing but great things to say about him after Simmons entered the transfer portal and committed to Missouri.