Inside The Huskies

Huskies Pick Up Another Oregon TE for 2025 Class, Flip WSU Commit

Austin Simmons had been pledged to the Cougars since last April.

Dan Raley

Tight end Austin Simmons on a visit to UW and he's not committed.
Tight end Austin Simmons on a visit to UW and he's not committed. / UW

Austin Simmons went from one bite of the Apple Cup to the other, with the tight end committing to the University of Washington football team on Tuesday, a day after rescinding his pledge to rival Washington State.

Thus the Huskies have two tight ends for the Class of 2025, both from Oregon, with the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Simmons from West Albany High School effectively filling the void left by Southern California prospect Vander Ploog, who flipped from the Huskies to Oregon.

And so it goes in the never static world of college football these days, with recruits never really committed until they sign financial agreements, which will happen beginning Dec. 4.

"The University of Washington has always been a top target for me," he told 247Sports.

The Huskies will pair Simmons with 6-foot-4, 235-pound tight end Baron Naone, a 2025 commit from West Linn High, with their schools about 65 miles apart.

In Simmons, the Huskies pick up a 3-star recruit who committed to Apple Cup adversary WSU last April and was offered by Boise State, Oregon State, Army, Air Force and a host of Big Sky schools.

Typical of what he can do, Simmons caught 11 passes for 225 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 48-18 victory over Lebanon for his 9-3 football team.

Simmons caught 39 passes for 714 yards and 8 TDs as a junior and, according to Max Preps, had 41 catches for 756 yards and 7 scores through 8 games this season. Also a defensive end, he had at least 5 sacks for the Bulldogs.

While it's hard to tell who's staying and who's flipping, the Huskies currently have 29 commitments for their 2025 class.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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