Simon returns with big expectations for senior year

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Posted 9:38PM on Thursday, August 18, 2005

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer ranks linebacker Kevin Simon as one of the program's most dominating players ever, but with one caveat: He has to be healthy and on the field. The senior has made it through only one full season at Tennessee because of three major injuries he's had since high school when many considered him one of the top players in the country. ``It's a major compliment,'' Simon said about Fulmer's statement. ``I just hope I don't make him look bad. When a coach says something like that about you, you want to prove him right.'' Simon wants to make the most of his final season this fall as the starting middle linebacker on a team considered to be a top contender for the Southeastern Conference championship. Simon came to Knoxville as a Parade All-American from De La Salle High School, a private, all-boys school in suburban San Francisco, which had a 151-game winning streak end last year. Some of Simon's teammates went to other big-time programs like Michigan, Notre Dame and Miami. Simon's stellar high school career ended in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl with a severe knee injury, and he was redshirted in his first year at Tennessee. In 2002, he earned a starting spot, but broke his ankle in the fourth game. After another surgery and recovery, Simon led Tennessee in tackles with 115 in 2003 as a sophomore, his only complete season. Believing he was finally on track to make his mark as a Vol, Simon tore his ACL in the second game last season and sat out the rest of the year. Simon looks healthy again with his speed, instincts and enormous biceps. ``I haven't felt this good since I've been at Tennessee,'' he said after practice this week. Fulmer says Simon will be a key part of the team's success. ``He's as dominating a football player as we've had when he's playing at his best,'' Fulmer said. Cy Simon said his son feels like he hasn't proven his immense talent on the field. ``To him, despite leading the team in tackles a couple of years ago, he didn't do it as far as he's concerned. He wanted to do that four years in a row,'' Cy Simon said. ``He's prepared himself to be the best he can possibly be this year, and he's going to put it on the line. I can't wait to see it.'' Kevin Simon says every day this summer he watched at least an hour of film from old Tennessee games, other college teams and NFL squads like Tampa Bay, Miami, Baltimore and Denver to analyze other middle linebackers. One of those players was Al Wilson, a favorite of Tennessee fans for his emotional leadership during the 1998 national championship run. Simon is cautious about comparing himself to Wilson. ``There's some similarities, but I've got some special things to do before I can say that I'm at that level. I'm definitely working hard to get there,'' Simon said. Cy Simon says his son has always worked hard in practice, but he's been even more intense since his older brother, Ken, was shot and killed in 2001. Ken Simon would have turned 30 this year. ``You'd have to know him or see him or talk to his friends, but he really was a special person to a lot of people. Football aside, (in) daily life I try to be just like my brother,'' Kevin said. Ken was close to graduating from the University of California, Davis, when he was shot while a friend argued with another man in a parking lot. Police have not yet found the shooter. ``He was Kevin's idol,'' Cy Simon said. With all the injuries he's had, Kevin Simon hopes to coach after he's finished playing. ``(It's) something I really want to do no matter how successful or how much of a bust my football career is. I want to get into coaching,'' he said. ``I always want to be around this game.'' On the Net: Tennessee football: www.utsports.com (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)