2025 QB Austin Simmons Shares Interest in Florida After Offer, Visit
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After a troubling 2023 recruiting cycle that saw the quarterback of the future elude Florida, the Gators wasted no time in locking in their face of the franchise in 2024.
Pinning down Texas quarterback DJ Lagway in Dec. 2022, Florida laid a firm foundation for its recruiting class and future team. He’s immediately shouldered the role of primary player-recruiter and looks to expedite the Gators' rebuild under Billy Napier.
Despite 2024 being the current task at hand, that hasn’t stopped Florida from remaining active in class further down the road. In fact, Napier and Co. have taken a similar approach to secure the highlighting offensive piece in the 2025 class.
Pahokee (Fla.) quarterback Austin Simmons — considered the No. 7 QB and No. 66 prospect nationally per 247Sports Composite rankings — recently visited UF’s campus to get a first look at the program in person. The left-hander walked away with an offer in hand following his one-on-one exit meetings with analyst Ryan O’Hara and Napier.
As a result, he could be the man to eventually succeed Lagway in the quarterback room.
“They want me to be a part of something great, you know, they want me to be a part of that 2025 class,” Simmons told All Gators freshly removed from his trek to Gainesville.
“I feel like they're going to be building something in the next two to three years, something great’s gonna be coming out of Florida. With the incoming 2024 class, I feel like they will make some big noise. With 2025 up next, I feel like you can possibly bring a national championship back to Florida.”
Traveling to UF on March 9, the 6-foot-2, 190-pound quarterback got an opportunity to tour the campus, watch practice and get a glimpse of the facilities that would be at his disposal if he were to choose the Gators.
He walked away impressed.
“You have a whole lot of advantages going to Florida,” he said. “They have a whole bunch of great things that can really better your play, better your performance on the field, on and off the field, really.
“You have great meeting rooms, you have good coaches that come with it and a great weight room. Then you also have an indoor facility, it’s easy access in and out and, you know, you can get your work, no matter the weather. It could be rain, sleet, snow, no matter what, still gonna get your work in.”
Simmons, like Lagway, is a dual sport athlete with an itch to play both football and baseball at the next level.
Given the current status of the baseball program as one of the best in the nation — expected to contend for a College World Series championship this June — Simmons' eyes are wide open to the possibility of suiting up in orange and blue for both sports.
“I was excited,” he said about the offer he received from Napier during their meeting. “Because, Florida, they have a great reputation of football, and, especially, they're doing great at baseball right now. You know, I really want to succeed in both sports in college, trying to make my way into choosing one to play at a professional level.
“So, just having a good school in my option list, that's filled with good baseball and good football and great coaches on both sports. That’s something to be excited about.”
That ability to play both sports, something the Gators are allowing quarterback Max Brown to do currently, can be a major drawing factor for Simmons’ services over the next several months.
Lagway — who will enter the fold a year before Simmons — will further lay the blueprint of what operating in both mediums looks like. That fact isn’t lost on the South Florida native.
“Having someone who I could compare myself with playing both sports, being successful in both sports, it's something to really look up to really,” he said. “You know, [Lagway is] older than me so I get to look up to him if I go to Florida as someone who I want to gain some knowledge from.
“I feel like we would just make a good duo, probably be the best quarterback room in all of college football.”
Simmons, albeit still in the early stages of his recruiting process, is hearing from a bevy of schools including Florida State, Miami, Louisville, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Georgia Tech and others.
He plans to make his college commitment late in his junior year or at the beginning of his senior campaign, depending on his ability to make program visits around his baseball schedule in the spring.
The Gators sit comfortably as a team to watch for his services at this time.
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