Nothing has changed Joshua Simon.
Not his success at Crestwood High School. Not the frustration of never receiving an offer from South Carolina. Not the initial growth at Western Kentucky, the knee injury that took nearly an entire season from him in 2021, or the subsequent career year.
And not even transferring back to his home state to play for his beloved Gamecocks, the school he grew up cheering for in Dalzell, S.C., less than an hour east of Columbia.
“I’m an old soul, man,” Simon told GamecockScoop. “I’m an old country boy. I like to hunt, I like to fish, I’m a big family person. I enjoy the simple things in life.”
The simplicity is almost startling. Simon is not on social media. He grew up competing with his dad and brother on the fishing boat, with a lofty $10 on the board for whoever reeled in the biggest catch on a given day.
Crestwood head coach Roosevelt Nelson remembers him attending a morning high school practice after arriving straight from his deer stand. One lonely night at Western Kentucky, he called home not to talk about football, or unpack any dramas from Bowling Green.
He needed advice on the ribs he was preparing to grill.
“I always taught him to hone in on you,” Simon’s father Chris told GamecockScoop. “That hard-working, go-getter attitude was brought from his upbringing. We teach them that whatever you want in this world and whatever you would like and desire to have, you have to work for it.”
The 6-foot-4, 238 Ib. tight end grew up playing basketball, baseball, and running track in addition to his football exploits. The speed made him a track ace. His height was an accelerator on the court. That slow and steady heartbeat was perfect for baseball. But combined, those skills produced a natural tight end, one capable of coming down with a jump ball and getting physical in pass protection.
“He played ball for me as a freshman and I knew from a maturity standpoint and measurables he was going to be a good player,” Nelson told GamecockScoop. “Athletic wise he was off the charts. Very physical, could catch, run, throw, did all the things that a Division I football player needs to do.”
His football career took off in high school, with talent that “allows him to do whatever he wants on the football field,” as Western Kentucky tight ends coach Andy LaRussa said.
But he remained unmistakably himself as he blossomed into a Division I prospect. Chris, an ex-military man and truck driver, watched those same traits Simon exhibited as a kid grow into something he could harness in football.
“Josh used to go with me on the road,” Chris said. “He was always curious, and he would sit in my lap and I would let him hold the steering wheel. I taught him how to shift. He knew how to park the truck when he was eight, nine, ten-years old. He rode dirt bikes, four-wheelers, everything you can think about an outdoor country kid, he knows how to do that.”
The straightforward, matter-of-fact nature Simon carries himself with is evident to everyone who meets him. It struck LaRussa once he started working with him in the practice and film rooms at Western Kentucky.
“You can have a good, honest conversation with him, you can joke with him, and then you can be serious and get to work,” LaRussa told GamecockScoop. “He’s just Josh. Sometimes it’s hard to describe, but that’s how it is. He’ll tell you how it is, and he likes to be told how it is, but he’s got a good sense of humor with it. It’s a good blend of everything.”
He immediately impacted the offense. As a true freshman, Simon reeled in 30 receptions for 430 yards with four touchdowns. He caught more passes in a COVID-19 abbreviated season the following year and looked poised for more in 2021. Then came the injury, a knee blow in Western Kentucky’s season-opening win over UT-Martin.
Simon had to watch from afar as quarterback Bailey Zappe set all-time FBS records for passing yards and touchdowns in a season in control of the Hilltoppers’ hyperkinetic offense. It might have been for the better.
“It just seemed like when he got injured, there was a year he had to watch and look at things differently,” LaRussa said. “And I think there’s just a different perspective when you’re recovering from an injury and you’re out there watching every day instead of playing.”
Armed with a fresh outlook, he torched defenses in 2022 with an average of 13.6 yards per reception and seven touchdowns. Not even an SEC defense was immune, as Auburn found out when Simon scored two touchdowns in a November trip to Jordan-Hare Stadium. And just hours after he put his name in the transfer portal, South Carolina made contact.
None of this is surprising to Simon. At his lowest point, after not getting an original offer from South Carolina out of high school, he always believed he would end up back in Columbia.
“He always wanted to play for the Gamecocks,” Chris said. “When he thought he was getting ready to get that offer years ago and it didn’t happen, he was the one that came to me and told me, ‘dad, it’s going to be alright.’”
He called his shot. It took him back to where he felt he belonged, closer to his loved ones and living out a childhood dream. Immersed in the simple, southern life he grew up around, bringing his relentlessly direct mentality to the practice field.
“He’s just a good old boy, man,” fellow transfer tight end Trey Knox said. “Really down to earth, and just easy to talk to. You love having guys like that playing alongside you. He’s just a good dude. Very likable, and he just comes to work every day and plays his butt off.”
Same as it ever was.
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