Faith, Familiarity and Opportunity Leads Emery Simmons Back to IU

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

In June of 2018 wide receiver Emery Simmons committed to play for Indiana head coach Tom Allen and the Hoosiers, however in the next six months Simmons changed his mind twice, committing and de-committing to North Carolina and Penn State, before signing with UNC in December of 2018. It’s now 2022 and Simmons is looking for more opportunities to make plays and his faith in and familiarity with Tom Allen has led him back to the cream and crimson in Bloomington.

“I already had a relationship with Coach Allen, and I know he is really big on faith, and that is something that me and my family stand behind one hundred percent. That was just one thing and being that I was committed here coming out of high school, I already had a relationship with the place. I just felt like, 'don't even waste any time, you already know the head man and you have a relationship with the place already, so why not?' And I am loving every bit of it.” Simmons said about his recruitment from the transfer portal.

Simmons played in 30 games in three seasons for the Tar Heels and collected 30 catches for 516 yards and three touchdowns, but had seen his playing time decrease. He felt “at North Carolina, it just felt like it was time for me to make a different move and find somewhere else to go. I felt like my playing time and my role was decreasing a little bit, so I felt like I needed to transition to another place.” Simmons explained.

Off of the field Simmons describes himself as “really laid back, chill”. He loves to hang out with his dog Rocco who is an American Bulldog. On the field Simmons wants to be as professional as possible.

“I feel like my coaches would say that I carry myself like a professional on and off the field. I strive to carry a professional mindset, because at the end of the day that's the end goal for all of us.” Simmons said. “All of the boys on the team, that is the end goal for us. We want to get to that next level, so I try to carry myself and have a professional mindset on and off the field. I come in extra early and try to go over extra stuff, look at extra plays for the day, come in and watch extra film.”

Simmons did of course have to answer questions about why he de-committed from IU the first time around, even though he came back full circle.

“What led me to Carolina first time around was just the fact that a Coach (Mack) Brown was new into the to the program around that time he had just got hired as a head coach.” Simmons explained. “I just felt like me being 18-19 years old and going 11 hours up up the road away from home for my family. I didn't think that was the smartest thing to do because you just because you know being that young you get homesick. You got a lot of stuff going on on your mind.”

The six-foot-one receiver will have plenty of opportunities to find more of the field with the Hoosiers as IU lost their top three pass catchers from last season. Having the experience from three years in the ACC should give Simmons the inside track to become the playmaker IU was so excited to have commit back in 2018.