2017 ATH Antjuan Simmons on Landing Notre Dame Offer: 'I Was Speechless'

It’s been three months since 2017 athlete Antjuan Simmons worked out for Notre Dame’s coaches during a one-day summer camp.

However, his performance that day set the stage for Irish head coach Brian Kelly and his staff to offer the rising junior from Michigan on Tuesday.

“It was unreal because I didn’t see it coming,” Simmons told Bleacher Report. “I was just sitting in class and I got the news and I was just speechless.” 

Simmons—who was offered as an athlete—could play either running back or linebacker in college.

His next order of business is a return trip to South Bend this weekend to take in the Irish game against Massachusetts on Saturday. Although he holds offers from a handful of MAC programs, he admits the Notre Dame offer was one that meant a lot to him. 

"It’s hard to explain," he said. "It’s a great program to be in and to be around. It’s a blessing for me just to have an offer from that program. The tradition, their academics and the football program, everything is top of the line there."

Simmons’ trainer, Daryl Graham, has worked with recent Detroit area prospects such as Lions running back Joique Bell, Ohio State freshman running back Mike Weber and 4-star linebacker and current USC commit Daelin Hayes at his Developing Great Athletes training program.

He took Simmons and a few other players to South Bend for the summer camp back in June. After Simmons worked out at running back and linebacker in front of the Irish staff, running backs coach Autry Denson asked Graham for his young pupil’s information.

Simmons described a sequence of plays that caught Denson’s eye at the camp.

“There was another kid there they were thinking of offering, and Antjuan went against him,” Graham explained. “On offense, he beat the guy. Then, he would check the best running back when he lined up on defense. He just did that back-to-back, so the coaches were able to see how competitive he is.”

Graham has been working with Simmons since last summer.

He notes that his program is intended to push kids in the same way college programs run their training camps. However, Simmons displayed a few traits that stood out immediately.

“What makes Antjuan a special talent is his instincts and work ethic,” Graham said. “With our training program, it’s designed to help kids develop that mental toughness. From his first day, the coaches were impressed with him from that standpoint. He finishes every drill and he wants to be a leader in that way.”

Given that he hopes to pursue a career as a strength and conditioning coach when his playing days are over, his habits of spending time in the weight room illustrate his desire to improve.

For now, Simmons—who reports a 3.0 GPA and has tentative plans to major in kinesiology—is enjoying a strong start to his junior campaign at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

While Illinois is his only other current Power Five offer, a handful of schools from the Big Ten, SEC and ACC have been in recent contact with him.

“Purdue, Michigan State, Michigan, Iowa, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida State and Ohio State are other schools I’ve heard from,” Simmons said.

In addition to his Notre Dame visit this weekend, he was in attendance for Michigan's win over UNLV last weekend and he has plans to visit the Buckeyes for either the Maryland or Penn State games.

Graham, who also notes that Simmons is a film junkie who watches his tape immediately after every game on Friday nights, said that Simmons is open to playing any position at the next level. The simple explanation for his reasoning is his love for the game.

“All he loves is football. That’s all he talks about,” Graham said with a chuckle. “When me and his mom talk, she always said that’s the only thing he talks about. She said she has to tell him to take a break.”

Sanjay Kirpalani is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand and all recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Follow @SanjayKirpalani