Over six months ago, news first broke that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were pursuing Kenneth Simon II, extending the four-star linebacker an offer at the beginning of August of last year.
Simon, a Tennessee native whose father, Kevin Simon, played for the Tennessee Volunteers, is the No. 10 linebacker in the class of 2027 and the No. 5 prospect out of the state. Despite all of his ties to the Vols, the Irish and head coach Marcus Freeman aren't shying away from luring him to South Bend.
Most recently, Freeman and the Fighting Irish locked down a visit for Simon, which will be his first to Notre Dame, along with the four other spring visits the young linebacker has on the books for this spring.
Kenneth Simon II schedules 5 spring visits
- Georgia Bulldogs - March 21
- Tennessee Volunteers - March 28
- Alabama Crimson Tide - March 30
- Ole Miss Rebels - April 3
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish - April 18
Unsurprisingly, Simon also added a trip to Knoxville to his calendar, as well as visits to see the Georgia Bulldogs, Alabama Crimson Tide, and Ole Miss Rebels.
As of now, the Irish are the only team that Simon is visiting this spring that isn't in the SEC, and is the only team to make an appearance in the National Championship game over the last two seasons.
So far, Simon has already made two trips to Ole Miss and Alabama, only visiting Tennessee once before. His upcoming trips to Georgia and Notre Dame will be the first of his recruiting process.
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Beyond being a legacy recruit at Tennessee, Simon has turned himself into an extremely impressive prospect at the high school level. At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, he is already growing into a sizeable athlete, and that's before you even look at his stats.
During his sophomore season (2025), Simon moved from the free safety position to a linebacker role and absolutely dominated as his team's starting LB, while his team progressed to a 12-0 season and won the Tennessee Division II-AA championship.