'Mark My Words': Austin Simmons Says Ole Miss Football Will Play in CFP Title

Can Austin Simmons deliver on his prediction that the Ole Miss Rebels will play for a College Football Playoff national championship?

Sep 7, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels quarterback Austin Simmons (13) dives forward as he is tackled by Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders defensive back Rickey Smith (27) during the second half at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Ole Miss Rebels fell short of their College Football Playoff dreams in the 2024 campaign, and they are set to lose a lot of veteran talent off of this year's roster during the offseason.

Don't tell Austin Simmons that, however.

Simmons, the heir-apparent to Jaxson Dart at the Ole Miss quarterback position, shared a post to his Instagram story on Monday night during the national championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame. The post was a simple picture of the Buckeyes celebrating their title with the caption, "We will be here. Mark my words."

You can view the post below, screen captured by the SEC Unfiltered podcast.

Ole Miss QB Austin Simmons via his Instagram story. Will his promise come true? pic.twitter.com/2erSrmvxid

— SEC Unfiltered (@SECUnfiltered) January 21, 2025

Simmons has been at Ole Miss for two seasons (with one year of eligibility exhausted) and has seen limited action in his time as a Rebel, mostly in mop-up duty. One stark contrast to that, however, was when he entered the game in the first quarter of Ole Miss' game against Georgia back in November and operated the offense at peak efficiency, leading a scoring drive that kept the Rebels in the game early while Jaxson Dart tended to an injury in the locker room.

Dart would reenter the game on the following drive, but that limited glimpse was enough: Ole Miss fans were bought in for the Austin Simmons era in 2025 and beyond.

It seems that Simmons has also made an impact in the eyes of his coaches and teammates, making a big push to help Ole Miss land some top talent out of the transfer portal like Dart did before him.

"Austin's done a really good job," head coach Lane Kiffin said in December. "He's up here a lot, always asking us who we're on, going to meals with the recruits when they're here, developing relationships with them and being very active. Again, we talk about legacies and what you leave; he saw the best to ever do it in Jaxson at that, so he's trying to take over.

"Austin watched Jaxson put together a team, and so he wants to do the same thing."

The Rebels have been ranked in the back end of many "way-too-early" Top 25s that have been released in recent days, but it's not about where you start. It's about where you finish, and if Simmons has his way, Ole Miss will finish in the national championship game before his tenure in Oxford concludes.

For now, however, fans will have to sit and wait for August to roll around, and with it the 2025 college football season.