It's not uncommon for high school football players to reclassify so they can reach college a year early. Austin Simmons is taking reclassifying a step further.
The four-star quarterback is moving from the 2025 class to the 2023 class, and he's flipping his commitment from Florida to Ole Miss. While moving up two years is impressive in its own right, what has caught the attention of most has been how he did it: with a 5.34 GPA.
Hey Oxford, I’m Home! 🦈❤️ #HottyToddy @Hayesfawcett3 pic.twitter.com/vCX5gLNP9Z
— Austin Simmons (@austnsimmons) June 17, 2023
Ole Miss has been stacking up quarterbacks during the 2023 offseason. Spencer Sanders and Walker Howard have transferred from Oklahoma State and LSU, respectively, giving the team QB room of Sanders, Howard and Simmons to go with last year's starter, Jaxson Dart.
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Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin certainly enjoyed rubbing Simmons' flip in Florida's face. He tweeted an image of the top four songs from Tom Petty, starting with "Won't Back Down," a nod to Florida's tradition of playing Petty's "Won't Back Down" between the third and fourth quarters. Petty was a Gainesville native.
🎶 🎶 great weekend vibes in Oxford! pic.twitter.com/rg5OAHX6mx
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) June 17, 2023
Here's what you need to know about Ole Miss' latest quarterback commit:
Austin Simmons recruiting ranking
Simmons does not have a ranking at 247 Sports, but according to ESPN, he was the No. 77 recruit in the Class of 2025 and a four-star player. On3 has him graded as a four-star as well and ranks him as the No. 12 quarterback and 159th overall in the 2023 class.
Simmons went to Pahokee High in 2022. He completed 68 percent of his passes for 3,141 yards and 24 touchdowns while also averaging 6.5 yards per carry. He had enrolled at Moore Haven High in April 2023, according to The Palm Beach Post, but will now be headed to Oxford in the fall instead of returning to high school.
Austin Simmons GPA
Simmons has taken a rarely used path to an early college arrival. According to The Palm Beach Post, Simmons was home schooled and completed his core high school classes along with 15 college credits by the time he had started his sophomore year.
And according to On3, he has done all of that with a 5.34 GPA.
Simmons has been ahead of the curve in other ways as well. He was on the varsity baseball team at Miami Christian as a sixth and seventh grader and began playing varsity football at Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines in eighth grade, according to The Palm Beach Post.
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"Austin is kind of in a category by himself because of the amount of work he puts in," Oliver Bozeman, Simmons' coach of five years, told the Palm Beach Post.
"Most kids are in school all day. Austin has already completed his schoolwork and he's in the weight room or he's in film study or he's doing quarterback sessions when most kids are doing schoolwork."
The Palm Beach Post also reported Simmons is in the final semester of an Associate of Arts degree.
Austin Simmons age
As of his reclassification, Simmons is 17. He will still be 17 when the 2023 season begins, making him one of the youngest players in college football.