‘That's hard for Tennessee fans to accept' – Vols fans are having a tough time with Josh Heupel's loss to main SEC rival

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Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Volunteers lost a big-time recruiting battle to one of their top SEC rivals this week, and UT football fans are having a tough time accepting it.

Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Vols lost a key recruiting battle to their top SEC rival this week.

Losing a recruiting battle to an SEC rival isn’t uncommon — it’s the nature of college football.

But this was a unique situation.

Vols fans are trying to understand why a Tennessee legacy committed to Alabama

The Vols started this past week with the news that 2027 four-star linebacker Kenneth Simon II had committed to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Simon is the son of former Tennessee linebacker Kevin Simon.

Losing a recruit to Alabama is never fun. Losing a Vol legacy to Bama, though, takes the pain to another level for Tennessee fans.

VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs discussed Simon’s decision earlier this week during an appearance on WNML’s SportsTalk.

“Clearly he was more comfortable at Alabama,” said Hubbs. “And he felt like his opportunities for growth and development, not just as an athlete, but as a student on that campus, [are best at Alabama]. And that’s a place where he wants to establish his roots and create his legacy. And you know, Kevin’s recruitment was one coming out of high school when he was in California, that he made his own choices. His dad was very supportive of wherever Kevin went. And he could go anywhere in the country — including staying close [to home] and going to UCLA or USC.

“But his dad let him make his own choice, and he ended up at Tennessee. And obviously, I think Kevin followed the same path that he learned from his father, and he let Kenneth pick his own choice and go where he wanted to go. Kenneth decided to go to a rival school. That’s hard for Tennessee fans to accept. And that’s tough, but I don’t think Tennessee did anything wrong in the recruitment. And I think at the end of the day, Kenneth Simon felt like the best thing for him as a person, not just as a football player, but the best thing for him as a person was to establish his roots in Tuscaloosa.”

I think most reasonable fans agree that a parent letting their kid make their own decision without feeling pressure to carry on the family legacy is the best way to handle things.

Sometimes, the kid decides to carry on the family legacy, and sometimes they decide to pave their own way. We’ve seen both types of players become legends at Tennessee. Peyton Manning was an Ole Miss legacy, whereas Eric Berry was a Tennessee legacy. Both became Vols legends.

You never know what may happen down the road in the portal — the relationship Heupel and his staff built with Simon can still pay off in a big way if the four-star recruit ever decides to transfer.

For now, though, he’s all-in on Alabama.

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