Colin Simmons talks Texas visit, early contenders

Duncanville, Texas – On3 Consensus 4-star Colin Simmons is fresh off a visit to Austin Saturday to check out the Texas Longhorns. 

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound pass rushing linebacker with 26 offers to date walked away impressed with what he saw Saturday in Austin. 

““It always has the energy and vibe,” Simmons told Inside Texas Saturday night. “Always feels like home at Texas. The (Texas) staff is top tier some of the coolest people I’ve met. The players, they’re cool and chill too.”

Saturday was a second unofficial visit to Texas in 2022.

“I went down there for junior day in January. The vibe was great down there. They told me they wanted to get me on campus as much as possible before I take my official visits. They want me to make Texas my home.”

Director of High School relations Chris Gilbert is key cog in the recruitment of Simmons for the Longhorns.

“Cool dude. He gets me. I would say he acts like an older brother to me. We have a connection. We clicked right away.”

Texas A&M visit in late January impressed

Simmons picked up an an offer from Texas A&M January 29 at the Aggies junior day. The DFW area budding star got a feeling of home immediately.

“A&M felt like home to be honest. Felt like family. They welcomed me in great. It was a great family vibe.”

Aggies linebackers coach Tyler Santucci is taking the approach of played development in the recruitment of the No. 14 ranked prospect in the On3 Consensus for the class of 2024.

“He was very welcoming. He’s more of a guy that wants to talk about player development. He wants to make me better. Train me to be my best.”

Arkansas and TCU have also received unofficial visits this spring. Simmons is looking at visits to Oklahoma, LSU and Georgia this spring and summer.

All programs will have to match the energy and vibe of Texas and Texas A&M to pull Simmons away from home.

“What I’m looking for is great energy. A great vibe. I don’t necessarily want to commit to a coach. I want to commit to a school because football can end any day. I’m going to major in business, so that is big for me. Real estate.”

Simmons tallied 68 tackles and 12 sacks as a sophomore for the Panthers. 

Simmons currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $25,000. The NIL Valuation is comprised of a number of dynamic data points that focus on two primary factors – an athlete’s social media presence and their level of athletic performance.