The Auburn football team is going bowling, reaching a big goal during the first year of head coach Hugh Freeze’s tenure on the Plains. The Tigers will be headed to Nashville, TN, for the Transperfect Music City Bowl, which will provide the first true bowl experience for many Auburn players.
After the end of the 2023 regular season, Freeze made his thoughts known on bowl opt-outs, sharing that it is a new concept for him and something he would have to get used to. The Tigers’ head coach believes opting out is choosing not to finish with your team.
So, when asked whether or not he would be playing in the Music City bowl later this month, veteran cornerback Jaylin Simpson had a blunt answer via his personal Instagram story: “Yup.”
Simpson was one of the most vocal players when it came to the subject of making a bowl game, and said that reaching bowl eligibility would allow some measure of success for the 2023 season despite all of the losses. His comments from mid-season explain his decision, per AL.com:
"“I just like playing football. I just want to play as many games as possible,” Simpson said on Oct. 24. “Me personally, I just want to go to a bowl game because I just like to play. It’s just important because if you don’t go to a bowl game you have to sit and watch everyone play.”"
For Simpson, it was important that he was not sat on the sidelines like last year, when the Tigers were excluded from the post-season after failing to reach the six-win threshold and firing former head coach Bryan Harsin.
While choosing not to opt out was an easy decision for Simpson, his next big decision will have to center around whether or not he will return for a final year with Auburn football on the Plains or declare for the NFL.