Austin Simmons is expected to be the starting quarterback for Ole Miss as a redshirt sophomore during the upcoming college football season. He will be in pursuit of a Masters degree when he does officially take his first snap for the Rebels as QB1.
Think about that timing for a second…
Simmons will receive his undergraduate degree from the University of Mississippi later this month after just two years in Oxford. Technically speaking, he should be arriving to campus to begin his freshman year of college in August. Instead, he is graduating.
Austin Simmons was originally rated as a four-star recruit in the college football recruiting Class of 2025. The Florida-native was in the same high school graduating class as Bryce Underwood, Keelon Russell, Tavien St. Clair and Husan Longstreet, who recently enrolled early at Michigan, Alabama, Ohio State and USC in time for the spring practice period at their respective schools.
However, Simmons is a genius and decided as a sixth grader to accelerate his academic future. He began homeschooling, which allowed him to take high school courses through an online school as a middler schooler.
Instead of sitting in class at an in-person school five days a week, Austin Simmons took online classes seven days a week, even during the summer, to get ahead. That was in addition to daily SAT prep.
So, basically, Simmons was studying for the SAT while completing high school courses in middle school. That allowed him to graduate from high school prior to what would’ve been his ninth-grade year.
Simmons actually started his “ninth-grade year” as a freshman in college, academically speaking. He earned his Associate’s Degree as a 10th grader, by age.
With that two-year college degree already behind him, Simmons was allowed to reclassify from the Class of 2025 to 2023 and subsequently flipped his commitment from Florida to Ole Miss. The Rebels gave him the opportunity to play both baseball and football during the 2023/24 calendar year.
Simmons starred out of the bullpen as a true freshman and took a redshirt in football.
Jaxson Dart was the starting quarterback for Ole Miss in 2025. Austin Simmons was the backup.
Dart got hurt against Georgia and missed a drive while in the locker room. Simmons, a redshirt freshman, entered the game in his place and immediately led the Rebels to the end zone.
Opportunity doesn’t wait—be ready when it comes.
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) March 24, 2025
Let’s attack the week, Rebs ‼️#ComeToTheSip | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/w0LMDDQb2R
It became abundantly clear in that moment that Simmons’ future is on the gridiron, which effectively ended his college baseball career. Lane Kiffin spoke with Mike Bianco and all involved parties agreed to make football the focus.
That leads us to May. Austin Simmons will walk the stage as a graduate of the University of Mississippi with a degree in multi-disciplinary studies alongside the graduating class of 2025 as a 19-year-old. He will be the starting quarterback as a redshirt sophomore in the fall while in pursuit of a Masters.