How Did Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart Help Prepare Heir-Apparent Austin Simmons in 2024?

Jaxson Dart is passing the control of the Ole Miss Rebels offense to Austin Simmons this offseason.

Aug 31, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels quarterback Austin Simmons (13) gives direction prior to the snap against the Furman Paladins during the second half at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Quarterback Jaxson Dart's career has come to a close for Ole Miss football, and it is expected that Austin Simmons will take over his role in 2025 and beyond.

Dart took over for Matt Corral beginning in the 2022 season, and that transition eventually helped Ole Miss keep its momentum moving forward as a program. Corral led the Rebels to a 10-win season in 2021, and Dart led the team to two 10-win seasons under his watch, including a program-high 11 wins in 2023.

Now, it's soon to be Simmons' turn. Head coach Lane Kiffin stated after Ole Miss' win in the Gator Bowl that he thinks the Rebels can continue to reload as opposed to rebuild their roster in the coming seasons, but what has Simmons potentially gained from being Dart's backup that could help him in this role?

For starters, Kiffin believes that this Ole Miss roster was like a "family," and that comparison extends to the quarterback room.

"I look at the family in the quarterback room, and when you say that about Austin, he had this big brother show him every way to do every single thing right," Kiffin said following the Gator Bowl. "That's so valuable. It's one thing to learn how a guy works, but how he prepares, how he treats people, how he wins his team over. That's a really awesome thing that Austin got to experience."

Dart has been the unquestioned leader of this Ole Miss team for years, and it's safe to say that Simmons is looking to continue that role beginning this offseason. Simmons has been a vital presence in the Rebels' transfer portal recruiting efforts since the end of the regular season, and Dart did much of the same between the 2023 and 2024 campaigns.

"Austin's done a really good job," Kiffin said in December. "He's up here a lot, always asking us who we're on, going to meals with the recruits when they're here, developing relationships with them and being very active. Again, we talk about legacies and what you leave; he saw the best to ever do it in Jaxson at that, so he's trying to take over.

"Austin watched Jaxson put together a team, and so he wants to do the same thing."

Time will tell if Simmons can lead Ole Miss to double-digit-win seasons and even a College Football Playoff berth, but as far as intangibles go, he has a leg up in that area thanks to the departing Dart.