Jeremy Pruitt already has two former Vols on his staff at Tennessee. But according to a report from (ironically enough) a former Vol, it looks like Pruitt will be adding a third former Tennessee football player to his coaching staff.
According to former Vol and current sports talk radio host Jayson Swain, Pruitt has added former Vol linebacker Kevin Simon to his staff at Tennessee.
I’m loving this staff! Former Vol Kevin Simon is expected to join staff. Simon worked in NFL as a scout previously. Simon’s addition is Program changing for the #Vols. BOOM!!!!
— Jayson Swain (@SwainEvent) February 6, 2018
Swain doesn’t specify what role he expects Simon to play, and no official announcement has been made from Tennessee’s side yet. But Tennessee hasn’t officially announced many of their hires as of yet.
Former Vols Terry Fair and Montario Hardesty are already on Pruitt’s Tennessee staff. Fair is an on-field coach and is the Vols’ cornerbacks coach. Hardesty is expected to be a quality control coach on offense for the Vols.
Simon was a linebacker for Tennessee from 2001-05 and battled injuries for most of his Vol career. But he finished his collegiate career with 237 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and eight pass break-ups in 30 games. And Simon was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the seventh round with the 250th overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.
Simon’s NFL career didn’t last long, and he came back to coach at Tennessee as a graduate assistant. He then pursued a career as an NFL scout and joined the Dallas Cowboys staff as a combine scout in 2009. In 2012, he was promoted to regional scout for the Midwest. He’s been a scout for the Atlanta Falcons since 2016.
As a player, Simon played his entire career under current Tennessee Athletics Director and former head football coach Phillip Fulmer. The other two former Vols on staff also played under Fulmer. Fair played from 1994-97 and Hardesty played from 2005-09. Hardesty’s final season was under Lane Kiffin, but Fulmer was his head coach for most of his Vol career.
