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Alabama secured a commitment from 2026 linebacker Kenneth Simon II, who praised the coaching staff's development focus. Despite being a Tennessee legacy, Simon felt Alabama was the right choice for his future.
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July 30, 2025; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack watches linebackers run drill sduring the first practice session of the preseason for the Alabama Crimson Tide. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The main news yesterday was that Alabama picked up a commitment from 2026 linebacker Kenneth Simon II.
Simon built strong connections with the defensive staff, especially linebackers coach Chuck Morrell and Kane Wommackās group, and saw a clear path for development.
āHe promised heād put everything into making me the best version of myself,ā Simon said. āCoach Morrell is a great coach. He knows a lot about linebackers and the development of guys at myself. He is ready to work with me and make me the best I can be, and that means a lot.ā
Head coach Kalen DeBoer also made a strong impression.
āHeās a winner⦠and he hates losing. When youāve got coaches and players that hate losing, things are going to go right. I like what he is about and how much he cares for his players and the program. Coach DeBoer is going to win at Alabama.ā
Tennessee is Tennessee. It will always have a place in his heart. Georgia and Ole Miss gave him a lot to think about, but this decision was the right one for Simon.
āItās been a blessing,ā Simon said. āA lot of kids donāt get the opportunity to go through this process and play at the next level⦠Iām just thankful.
Kenneth Simon II is a 2026 linebacker who chose Alabama due to strong connections with the coaching staff and a clear path for development, despite being a Tennessee legacy.
Simon expressed high regard for linebackers coach Chuck Morrell and head coach Kalen DeBoer, noting their commitment to player development and winning culture.
Kenneth Simon II is ranked as a top 150 player and the #7 overall linebacker according to 247 Sports.
Alabama's recruiting strategy typically involves taking fewer commitments until June, when summer camp visits increase engagement with potential recruits.
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āI developed some great relationships with different coaches, but Alabama separated in the end. Why would you not want to be there?
āIt just felt right. I just want to go be the best version of myself, and I believe Alabama can get me there.ā
Simon is a Tennessee legacy, so committing to Alabama was something of a surprise to many. He absolutely gushes about the coaching staff in this piece, so I think he seems like a dude thatās solid. Heās a top 150 player and the #7 overall linebacker according to 247. Alabamaās recruiting class is still quite small. The Tideās M.O. through both the Saban and DeBoer regimes has been to take very few commits until June, when things start really picking up with all of the summer camp visits.
Quarterback battles are a lot like horse races before the gates openāeveryone lines up with a case, but if you look at the odds, thereās usually one name bettors keep circling. At Alabama, the post-spring conversation still carries uncertainty on the surface, but the numbers behind the scenes are already painting a much sharper picture. And while Kalen DeBoer hasnāt publicly decided the winner of the competition between Austin Mack and Keelon Russell, the outside world may be tipping its hand on how this race is trending.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook Heisman odds, Russell sits at +3000āgood for 14th in the nation heading into the summer, firmly in a tier that suggests his legitimate breakout potential. This climb comes after flashes he showed during Alabamaās A-Day scrimmage last month, where the 5-star redshirt freshman gave a glimpse of why the buzz around his upside hasnāt faded.
Russell being 14th in the whole country in betting odds to win the Heisman as a guy who we donāt even know if heāll play really goes to show just how high the hype is going to be for him. After A-Day, I think most Alabama fans are comfortable with making a prediction heāll be the Tideās starter, even though that battle is far from over. If Russell lives up to the hype, it could make for a very interesting 2026 for all of the media that seems so excited to bury the Tide.
āThat was my comment the other day,ā he told reporters during the ACC spring meetings on Monday. āAll of a sudden Iām getting hate mail from people. We have enough. I was just making a point we never had the same as this school and this school if we met at the middle of the field and compared budgets and alumni bases and total revenues, and 5-stars, recruiting rankingsāweād lose every time. Youāve got to have enough, and then itās about putting it together. We may not have a $45 million roster like some teams, but weāve got enough. Weāve just got to be good with it. Weāve got to be strategic.ā
Swinney didnāt shy away from critiquing Clemsonās results from last season, however, as the team went 7-6, missed the College Football Playoff and lost the Pinstripe Bowl against Penn State, 22-10.
āItās pretty well documented we grossly underachieved last year. That isnāt a news flash,ā he acknowledged. āWe just keep beating that dead horse to death. Weāre onto the new season. We grossly underachieved and underperformed and did not coach and play to our potential. Weāve had other seasons where we had nobody drafted and won 10-plus games. Thatās football. It didnāt work last year. If you do this long enough, you can have a year where it just doesnāt work. I donāt care if youāre Roy Williams or Coach K [Mike Krzyzewski] or Dabo Swinney, it doesnāt matter. Itās what you do moving forward. But I think perspective is important.ā
Despite the ACC being the weakest of the Power 4 conferences in football at this point, Clemson has just one CFP appearance in the past five seasons and hasnāt won a Playoff game since 2019. Swinneyās aversion to the transfer portal and the changing landscape NIL has provided plenty of challenges for the program, with questions about whether he can adequately adapt.
Dabo Swinney owes Brent Venables, DeShaun Watson, and Trevor Lawrence (Saivion Smith) a whole lot of money for the long career leash that Clemson has given him. At what point do the Tigers get tired of the perennial underachieving and excuse-making despite constantly putting out NFL talent, all because they have a coach obstinately refusing to change his approach from 2019.
The coaches association, which has no official decision-making voice on these matters, wants to move the calendar up and finish the playoff by the second Monday in January.
āThe American Football Coaches Association, without picking up the phone with those of us in the decision-making roles, issues a statement and says we want to get the season done earlier,ā Sankey said.
The point the commissioner was making involves the complexity of the schedules and multiple interests competing for the same time. He noted the two executive orders issued by the White House that aim to protect the Army-Navy game on the second Saturday of December.
There are NFL games in early December that would cannibalize TV ratings for both if the playoff shifted earlier, Sankey said.
āYou know, Commissioner (Roger) Goodell and Iāve talked,ā Sankey said. āHe would prefer that not happen, as would Commissioner Sankey.ā
The current playoff format means playing deeper into January every year to avoid calendar landmines. The 2027 season wonāt end until Jan. 25, 2028.
Compressing the schedule to finish in early January isnāt so simple, Sankey said.
āLast I knew, the AFCA is not in charge of dealing with scheduling those postseason games or even the regular season games,ā Sankey said. āI mean, the entity or figuring out where they fit in the calendar or dealing with TV.
I donāt really know whoās in the wrong here, whether itās Greg, ESPN, or whoever. But I think we all know that the way college football has turned into utter chaos in December and the drags late into January has become a real problem.
Between the transfer portal, national signing day, and now cramming an entire playoffs in, all while the āstudent-athletesā are supposed to be getting Christmas break, weāve tried to force too much into one spot.
Remember when the recruiting silly season happened after the season, in February? We could all focus on that and it made for fan involvement in the offseason. Now, nobody has the capacity to keep up or care because it all happens right in the middle of conference championships.
And transfers? We COULD have transfers all swap teams during the summer. Like a normal thing for students in schools, and a natural window for that to happen. Fans could get more into āfree agencyā period during the normally barren months, and transferring players could get a lot more time to scope out the new schools (and ditto for coaching staffs).
But no, we also want to cram that in at the same time in December, then try to shoehorn in exception rules for playoff teams that just makes the whole thing even more disjointed.
Do all of that, and maybe you free up a little time for some more December games. And maybe players actually play in post-season games because they could be showcasing for their next potential school, rather than having to skip so that they can get on a new team in time to not get left out. And then maybe coaches donāt get fired until after the season ends, so we donāt have mass exoduses of players feeling like they were misled and schools having to make new hires in 2 days. Just maybe.
But what do I know?