Ole Miss Rebels' QB Austin Simmons used SEC baseball to bring 'the Tua thing' to football

It all adds up for Austin Simmons.

Every opportunity, on the mound for Ole Miss or on the gridiron for the Rebels, has led to this season.

Now, for the first time, the left-handed Simmons is a starting quarterback at Mississippi. He's promising enough that Lane Kiffin didn't go after a starting QB in the transfer portal, either.

"He just has the Tua thing," Kiffin told ESPN's Pete Thamel. "... There's no way you teach any of that. They just have that."

Simmons' most prominent SEC action, for the most part, has so far come in baseball. He's a left-handed reliever.

Thamel relayed this story in a new feature on Simmons:

The case for Ole Miss football optimism this year is rooted in two Austin Simmons relief appearances against Georgia last year.

The first came in April 2024, in the seventh inning of the second game of a baseball double-header at the No. 23 Bulldogs. Simmons, a lefty reliever, came in to preserve a lead and struck out two batters, including eventual MLB No. 3 overall draft pick Charlie Condon. "Slider, in," recalls Ole Miss baseball coach Mike Bianco.

The second unfolded with a bit more fanfare in Oxford on Nov. 9, as Simmons came in for a series on the football field against No. 3 Georgia. In relief of injured quarterback Jaxson Dart, Simmons led Ole Miss on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to tie the game with an unflinching calm. "Just went out there and dominated," Simmons recalled with a similar nonchalance. "Just trusted my preparation."

"I just want people to understand there are going to be a lot more moments like that," Simmons added later in his interview with Thamel.

Simmons has taken quite the path. He graduated high school two years early and already has an Ole Miss degree in multidisciplinary studies. He's still just 19 years old.

And, thanks to all he's already experienced, Simmons is ready for the spotlight.

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