Jeff Sims (born January 1, 2002) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

. He formerly played for the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The teams have also been nicknamed the ...

and the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

Early life

Sims played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

for

Sandalwood High School Sandalwood High School is a comprehensive public high school in Jacksonville, Florida. The school is one of 47 high schools in the Duval County School District. Like all Duval County schools, it is accredited through the Southern Associatio ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

from 2016 to 2020. He served as the team's starting

starting in his sophomore year. While initially hoping to play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

, the team showed no interest in him, and he instead was drawn towards the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

under then-

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Willie Taggart Willie Author Taggart (born August 27, 1976) is an American football coach who is the running backs coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He has held the head coach position at five NCAA Division I Football Bowl ...

. In February 2019, he committed to Florida State, with the prospect of being a backup quarterback to James Blackman. Later that year, he competed in the

Elite 11 Elite 11 is a quarterback competition for high school quarterbacks. Elite 11 was founded in 1999 by Andy Bark and is run by his company Student Sports. Rising seniors participate in the contest. The quarterbacks submit videos of themselves pla ...

quarterback competition. On December 11, following Florida State's firing of Taggart and hiring of

Mike Norvell Michael Kelly Norvell (born October 11, 1981) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach for Florida State, a position he has held since 2020. He was previously head coach at Memphis, and has coached for Arizona State ...

as new head coach, he rescinded his commitment to Florida State, and on December 18, he signed to the

. Ultimately, Sims had received over a dozen offers from schools in the

NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

, including Florida State, Georgia Tech, and the

Maryland Terrapins The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's college sports in the United States, varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate ...

247Sports.com 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite bei ...

ranked him the No. 10

dual-threat quarterback In gridiron football, a dual-threat quarterback is a quarterback (QB) who is adept at both passing and running with the ball. With the rise of several blitz-heavy defensive schemes and faster defensive players, the importance of a mobile quarter ...

in the country and the No. 223 recruit overall. In January 2020, he played in the

Under Armour All-America Game The Under Armour High School All-America Game is a high school football all-star game typically held in early January in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game wa ...

, a high school football

all-star game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

, where he was part of the winning team. Sims's uncle, Mike Sims-Walker, is a former football player who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

College career

Georgia Tech

Following the team's

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

, quarterback

Tobias Oliver Tobias Oliver (born June 22, 1999) is an American football cornerback. He played college football at Georgia Tech. Early life Oliver attended Northside High School. He was a three year starter and team captain. He played football and basket ...

was moved to

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

, leaving that position empty, with Sims,

Tucker Gleason Tucker Gleason is an American football quarterback for the Toledo Rockets. He previously played for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Early life and high school Gleason grew up in Tampa, Florida and attended East Lake High School and transferr ...

, James Graham, and Jordan Yates vying for the position during the

offseason In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

. Graham and Sims were considered the strongest candidates for the position, though the team refused to comment prior to the start of the season. On September 11, ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

'' announced that Sims would be the team's starting quarterback. He made his collegiate start on September 12, leading the Yellow Jackets to a 16–13

upset victory An upset occurs in a competition, frequently in electoral politics or sports, when the party popularly expected to win (the "favorite") is defeated by (or, in the case of sports, ties with) an underdog whom the majority expects to lose, defying ...

against the

Doak Campbell Stadium Doak S. Campbell Stadium (in full Bobby Bowden Field at Doak S. Campbell Stadium), popularly known as "Doak", is a football stadium on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is the home field of the Flo ...

. Sims completed 24 of 35 passes for 277 passing yards and accumulated 64 rushing yards. With the game, Sims became the first true freshman quarterback to play in a season opener for the Yellow Jackets since

Reggie Ball Reginald Lewis Ball (born October 6, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback. He played college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and was signed by the Detroit Lions of the National Football Leag ...

in 2003 and the first to win a season opener. For his performance, Sims was named

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) rookie of the week and 247Sports.com's true freshman of the week, and was recognized in weekly lists put out by the

Davey O'Brien Award The Davey O'Brien Award, officially the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, named after Davey O'Brien, is presented annually to the collegiate American football player judged by the Davey O'Brien Foundation to be the best of all National C ...

and the

Manning Award The Manning Award has been presented annually since the 2004 football season to the collegiate American football quarterback as judged by the Sugar Bowl Committee to be the best in the United States. It is the only quarterback award that inc ...

. Following this debut, the Yellow Jackets suffered two defeats, losing 49–21 to the

UCF Knights The UCF Knights are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in unincorporated Orange County, Florida near Orlando, Florida, Orlando. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NC ...

and 37–20 to the

Syracuse Orange The Syracuse Orange are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East ...

. In the latter game, Sims threw four interceptions. Sims showed some improvement in his sophomore campaign, throwing for 1,468 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions - along with 372 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns in 5 starts. However, he shared the role of starting quarterback with freshman Jordan Yates, as the Yellow Jackets finished with a 3-9 record and once again missed out on bowl eligibility. On November 27, 2022, Sims announced his decision to enter the transfer portal.

Nebraska

On December 18, 2022, Sims announced his commitment to

. On December 11, 2023, Sims announced that he would be entering the transfer portal for the second time.

Arizona State

On May 1, 2024, Sims announced that he would transfer to

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

. On August 19, 2024, head coach

Kenny Dillingham Kenny Dillingham (born April 28, 1990) is an American football coach who is currently the head football coach at Arizona State University. He previously served as the offensive coordinator at the University of Oregon, Florida State University, Au ...

announced Michigan State transfer

Sam Leavitt Samuel Leavitt, A.S.C. (February 6, 1904 March 21, 1984), was an American cinematographer nominated for three Academy Awards, winning one for ''The Defiant Ones'' (1958). Leavitt began his career as an assistant camera operator working on 193 ...

would be the starting quarterback for opening game of the 2024 season with Sims as his backup.

Statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sims, Jeff 2002 births Living people American football quarterbacks Sandalwood High School alumni Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Arizona State Sun Devils football players Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida Under Armour All-American football players

Early life

College career

Georgia Tech

Nebraska

Arizona State

Statistics

See also

References

External links