Florida QB Commit Austin Simmons Flips to Ole Miss, Reclassifies to 2023
Photo: Austin Simmons; Credit: Alex Shepherd
Class of 2025 quarterback Austin Simmons announced on Saturday that he has flipped his commitment from Florida to Ole Miss and that he intends to reclassify to join the Rebels via the recruiting class of 2023.
Simmons, who was most recently enrolled at Moore Haven (Fla.) High School, committed to Florida on April 4 following a near-month-long recruitment after the Gators offered him a scholarship on March 9.
However, a visit to Mississippi on June 2 began to call Simmons' pledge to Florida into question, and it has become clear those concerns were valid.
Although his two-class jump is unprecedented, the move had been expected by Florida's coaching staff for several weeks, multiple sources have told All Gators. Part of the expectation was that Simmons would fill UF's fourth scholarship quarterback vacancy entering the 2023 season, a goal of the team's as stated by head coach Billy Napier several times this offseason.
"I think there are some limitations relative to what we can say publicly about that," Napier said about Florida's plan to add a fourth scholarship quarterback on May 22 — such rules apply to discussing prospective student-athletes, like Simmons, before enrollment, "but still intend to do that.”
And while Simmons' move might be considered unconventional, his status as a dual-enrolled student-athlete made it possible.
Simmons is a homeschooled prospect with separated parents, according to the Palm Beach Post. He has played football in the Lake Okeechobee area while living with his father, David, who has served as a coach at Pahokee High School and Moore Haven High School, and baseball at True North Classical Academy in Miami while living with his mother.
Simmons' unique school schedule has allowed him to advance beyond the grade level of his graduating class. Simmons claims to possess a 5.34 weighted grade point average and to have completed his high school classes during his freshman year, which allowed him to begin college courses.
On the gridiron, Simmons resembles a more polished quarterback than his graduating year might suggest.
In 24 varsity appearances — including six as an eighth grader at Pembroke Pines (Fla.) Flanagan, which resulted in a half-season suspension at Pahokee the next year — Simmons completed 317-of-484 passes (65.5 percent) for 5,616 yards and 42 touchdowns, with 14 interceptions.
As a sophomore and in his first full season as a high school starting quarterback, Simmons broke former Pahokee passer and NFL wide receiver Anquan Boldin's single-season record for passing yards, setting a new high mark of 3,161 yards.
While Simmons was not expected to contribute on Saturdays as a younger-than-usual freshman at Florida, his de-commitment hurts the Gators' short-and-long-term plans at the quarterback position.
Florida currently projects to house three scholarship quarterbacks on its roster for the 2023 campaign: Redshirt junior and Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz, redshirt sophomore Jack Miller III and redshirt freshman Max Brown.
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