AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas sophomore edge rusher Colin Simmons is changing his jersey number in 2025. He’s just taking a digit off, going from No. 11 to No. 1, and when he was asked why, he answered with his chest.
“I am the one,” he said.
It’s hard to argue that. As a true freshman last season, Simmons racked up nine sacks, 14 tackles for loss with three forced fumbles and an interception. He was named the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year, an award given out since 2019 to the nation’s most outstanding freshman, beating out talented wide receivers Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State) and Ryan Williams (Alabama) among others.
He was a first-team freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America and was the first Longhorn to notch more than 6.5 sacks in a season since Charles Omenihu did that in 2018.
He lived up to his 5-star recruit billing out of the Texas high school powerhouse program at Duncanville, but as great athletes do, he thought he could have done more.
“I had a pretty solid freshman year, but it could have been way better,” he said. “It could have been way, way better just knowing my talents and abilities.”
He’s certainly not short on confidence, but that serves him well. He said the coaches want the players to “be themselves,” and that’s who he is.
“You have to have confidence playing this sport,” he said. “Confidence going into the games, practice, walking into this facility. I never lose my confidence.”
Simmons considers junior linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. his brother. When Simmons was still in high school and going through the recruitment phase, Hill would visit with him and help get him whatever he needed.
“We’ve always had a good relationship,” Simmons said. “He’s the middle linebacker, and everything goes through him.”
When asked if he had any predictions for the upcoming season, Simmons paused and thought about it for a while.
“I’m trying to break the sack record, I’ll just say that,” he said.
The single-game sack record at Texas is five by Shane Dronett in 1990, and the season record is 22.5 by Kiki DeAyala in 1982. Perhaps both records will fall if Simmons does what he thinks he’s capable of.
