Ole Miss QB Austin Simmons set to hit transfer portal

As Ole Miss is battling in the College Football Playoff, one of its quarterbacks has his sights set on transferring.

Austin Simmons, who began this season as a starter for the Rebels but ultimately lost the job to Trinidad Chambliss, is planning on entering the transfer portal, according to multiple reports.

ESPN reported Friday that Simmons will likely end up playing for Missouri, with the 20-year-old reportedly entering the portal with a no-contact tag that forbids other programs from reaching out to him.

Simmons started the Rebels’ first two games before going down with an ankle injury in September, and he’ll enter the portal as a graduate transfer with two years of eligibility left.

The Florida native graduated early from Mississippi in May 2025 thanks to reclassifying up two grade levels while in high school and obtaining his associate degree from Miami Dade College before turning 17.

After redshirting in 2023, Simmons served as current Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart’s 2024 backup in Oxford, appearing in nine games for the Rebels.

In eight games this season, Simmons completed 45-of-75 passes for 744 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions.

Although Simmons has appeared in just 17 games — and started only two — in his college career, the former four-star recruit is expected to be one of the top quarterbacks in the portal cycle.

Despite his intention to transfer, Simmons plans to remain with the Rebels throughout the College Football Playoff as they are set to play Miami in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal on Thursday.

This news for Ole Miss comes as the team tries to navigate some of the team’s assistant coaches potentially leaving to join ex-head coach Lane Kiffin’s staff at LSU.

Some coaches who have already signed contracts at LSU now do not want to leave a Rebels team that is just two wins away from a national title.

“There are going to be some fireworks,” one Ole Miss source told ESPN.

“We always knew this might be a possibility.”