Willie Simmons Class: RS Senior Hometown: Quincy, FL High School: Shanks Height / Weight: 6- / 190 Position: QB Experience: 2VL

Simmons Fact: Even though he has not started either game, Simmons has thrown a touchdown pass in a bowl game each of the last two years.

Fall 2002 Depth Chart Position: First-team Quarterback

Year Lettered: 2000, 2001

Bowl Participation: 2001 Gator Bowl vs. Virginia Tech; 2001 Humanitarian Bowl vs. Louisiana Tech.

Overview: Second-team quarterback behind Woodrow Dantzler for each of the last two seasons...will move into starting role in 2002...outstanding student athlete who already has his degree in marketing...still has two years of eligibility, he got the degree during graduation ceremonies in Death Valley last May...earliest a Clemson football player has ever graduated...played in just five games in 2001, most of Clemson's games went to the wire and Dantzler stayed healthy the entire season...solid team leader who is vice president of Clemson's LIFELINE program, the football team's leadership organization...completed a 57-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Hamilton in the Humanitarian Bowl, his 10th touchdown pass as a reserve over two seasons...hit 5-7 passes for 76 yards against Wofford...hit 7-15 for 65 yards and a score against Maryland, an 11-yard score to Roscoe Crosby...also played 26 snaps against North Carolina and threw for 71 yards... co-holder of the Clemson single game touchdown pass record, he threw four off the bench against North Carolina in 2000 when Dantzler suffered an injury...hada solid spring practice, especially after spring break... connected on 13-25 passes for 198 yards and a score in the spring game.

In 2000: One of the top reserve quarterbacks in the nation, he showed what he can do in relief at North Carolina...recipient of the team's 12th man award on offense for the 2000 season...came off the bench for an injured Woodrow Dantzler and threw four touchdown passes to beat North Carolina, 38-24 and keep Clemson's top five national ranking...completed 10-18 passes for 228 yards in that game and also gained 15 yards rushing for 243 total offense...ACC Rookie of the Week for his performance against the Tar Heels...named Jefferson Pilot ACC Player of the Week for that performance versus the Tar Heels...also cnnsi.com player of the game against North Carolina and earned game ball from espn.com...Army ROTC Offensive Take No Prisoners Award for that game...had a passing efficiency rating of 129.8 for the season, a figure that was just ahead of Dantzler's (129.7)... would have ranked in the top 35 in the nation had he had enough attempts...has ability to make the big play, he averaged 16.2 yards per completion in 2000...threw eight touchdown passes in just 92 attempts and threw just three interceptions all year, one on a desperation pass at the end of the Georgia Tech game...came off the bench against Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl to direct Clemson to a scoring drive, he connected with Rod Gardner on an 18-yard scoring pass...hit 6-12 passes for 63 yards in that game...came off the bench for an injured Dantzler against Georgia Tech, he completed 9-18 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown, he also rushed 8 times for 25 yards...threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Rod Gardner with 1:52 against Georgia Tech that gave Clemson a 28-24 lead, a pass that would have been remembered as quite a clutch play had George Godsey not led Tech to the winning touchdown with just seven seconds left...played 233 snaps for the season, 124 of them came against North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Florida State when Dantzler was injured...connected on a 30-yard scoring pass against Wake Forest and a 38-yard scoring pass against Duke, both to Kevin Youngblood.had a solid spring of 2001, highlighted by performance in Spring Game when he connected on 21 of 39 passes for 240 yards...the yardage total was the most ever by a Tiger in a spring game and the completion total was second best...active in community service, he is a member of LIFELINE.

In 1999: Sat out the 1999 season as a red-shirt...highly recruited quarterback from Quincy, FL, he played his high school football just a few miles from the Florida State campus...named to ACC academic honor roll his freshman year...had an injury plagued spring practice of 2000 that limited his effectiveness...suffered sprained ankle early in the spring workouts, he was never totally healthy for a scrimmage...red-shirted the 1999 season, although he was close to coming in for the Florida State game when both Brandon Streeter and Woodrow Dantzler were hurt...Dantzler shook off the injury and returned to the game... high school teammate of current Tiger defensive back Charles Harper and wide receiver Ronnie Thomas.

In High School: Passed for 2,505 yards on 141-256 passing and 32 touchdowns, and rushed for 510 yards with eight touchdowns as a senior at Shanks High School...threw for 6,097 yards and 96 touchdowns in his career...#10 quarterback in the nation by SuperPrep...#34 player in the nation by Tom Lemming...#67 player in the nation by The Sporting News...All-American by USA Today and SuperPrep...preseason and postseason All-American by Southeastern Recruiting Alliance...#3 quarterback prospect in Southeast by Southeastern Recruiting Alliance...one of the top 50 players in the South by Atlanta Journal Constitution...runner-up in Florida for the Mr. Football Award...All-America selection and #11 player in Florida by PrepStar...also #4 quarterback prospect in SEC region by PrepStar...Florida Athletic Coaches Offensive Player-of-the-Year...#17 player in Florida by SuperPrep...named a "Super Senior" as one of the top 24 players in Florida...Orlando Sentinel Super 28 selection...one of the top 50 players in Florida according to Florida Times Union...Tallahassee Democrat Offensive Player-of-the-Year as a senior...All-Big Bend and All-District Player-of-the-Year as a senior...Gadsden County Times Offensive Player-of-the-Year as a senior...team captain as a senior...All-State and All-Big Bend selection as a junior and senior...completed 140 of 243 passes for 2,133 yards and 23 touchdowns against only six interceptions as a junior....coached by Andy Gay at Shanks High School...lettered four times in football and four times in baseball...outstanding student in the classroom, as he had a 3.83 GPA...chose Clemson over Auburn, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), and Syracuse...Born Willie Simmons on Oct. 12, 1980....earned undergraduate degree in marketing in May of 2002.