It’s that time of year when college football players can officially announce their intentions to go from one school to another via the transfer portal, and Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons has made it clear that he’s seeking a new venture next season.
Simmons, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, is entering the portal with a no-contact tag with Missouri being the favorite program to land him. Ole Miss and Missouri are scheduled to play each other in 2026. The Rebels will host the matchup on Saturday, Oct. 17.
The sophomore southpaw had a peculiar season in Oxford, one in which a week-two ankle injury at Kentucky found him becoming the understudy to Division II Ferris State transfer Trinidad Chambliss. In his two lone starts of the season, Simmons tossed for 571 yards, a trio of touchdowns, and four interceptions.
The Pinecrest, Fla., native graduated high school a whopping two years early and was a member of the Rebels’ 2022-23 signing class, where he enrolled as a dual-sport athlete and spent time on the mound for Mike Bianco’s baseball club before deciding to stick to football.
During the 2024-25 campaign, Simmons raised eyebrows when thrown into the lion’s den versus Georgia after now-NFL signal caller Jaxson Dart went down with a leg injury. With his team trailing 7-0, Simmons completed five of six passes for 64 yards on a scoring drive to knot up the scoreboard in what would end up being a 28-10 win for the Rebels.
Though he is not anticipating a return to Ole Miss next year, Simmons plans to remain with the team until the conclusion of its historic run in the College Football Playoff. The Rebels avenged a regular-season loss to Georgia, their only shortfall of the year, in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day to advance to the semifinals against Miami.
In the meantime, the quarterback situation in Oxford has gotten a bit complicated, as Chambliss has not yet been notified by the NCAA whether or not he will be granted another year of eligibility. But with Simmons eyeing a change of scenery, a source told SuperTalk Mississippi News that newly minted head coach Pete Golding and offensive coordinator John David Baker are expected to find a field general in the portal.