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Sophomore wide receiver Malcolm Simmons will not be returning to the Auburn football program. The pass catcher intends to transfer this offseason.
Simmons appears to be burning his bridge on the way out the door. He reportedly ghosted the new coaching staff while trashing the Tigers on social media.
The wideout made an instant impact on the Plains, logging 40 receptions as a rookie. He followed it up with a 25-catch sophomore season in which he recorded a career-high 457 receiving yards.
Simmons was a bright spot in a largely unproductive offense. He closed out the year with back-to-back 140-yard performances. He will now take his talents elsewhere.
Malcolm Simmons is leaving Auburn.
The receiver announced his plans to enter the transfer portal earlier this month. He’s expected to see plenty of interest from notable programs around the country.
Alabama is rumored to be one of those schools. Simmons was recently heard shouting his best “Roll Tide” after joining Alabama commit Cederian Morgan on social media.
“Apparently, he went live on Instagram, and he’s like, ‘I’m never setting foot back in Auburn again,'” said Ike Jones of The War Rapport.
“And he actually went to the other step of saying, ‘Roll Tide,’ on this thing. He’s basically just like, ‘F- Auburn,’ on this thing… You don’t have to do all that.”
The wideout is believed to have ghosted Alex Golesh.
Auburn brought in a new football coaching staff following the firing of Hugh Freeze. It is being reported that they’re reevaluating the team’s current NIL commitments.
Players believed to be overvalued by the previous staff are seeing pay cuts. Simmons is said to be one of those contributors.
Jones’s co-host, Mike Gittens, says he’s already plugged in with the new staff. He weighed in on what’s happening behind the scenes in those NIL dealings.
“You made choices that were active in going the direction that this roster is going,” he said. “I think a big part of it is, and I’m saying this unofficially, a big part of it is taking a look at some of the numbers the last staff threw around, seeing the production, and saying, ‘I’m not sure that we would pay X amount of dollars for these guys.'”
He continued on to address Malcolm Simmons’s situation directly.
“He ghosted the staff. They never even had a conversation with him before he announced that he was hitting the portal. If that’s how you handle your business, then bye.”
-Mike Gittens
Simmons is one of a number of talented Auburn football players entering the transfer portal. He will likely seek a higher payday at his next school. He may or may not have gone about it the wrong way.
If what’s being reported is true, there will be no love lost between the new staff and the former Tiger.