Ready to report: Devan Kennedy

After graduating high school, defensive lineman Devan Kennedy is getting ready to report to Iowa City to begin his college career with the Hawkeyes. We caught up with the 6-foot-3, 265-pound Kennedy this week to discuss the upcoming move, his goals for his freshman year, the advice that he has received from his father, who is former NFL first round draft pick Jimmy Kennedy, plus much more.

Q: Have you already graduated high school at this point?

KENNEDY: Yeah, I’m all done.

Q: What was the last month like as you wrapped up your high school career?

KENNEDY: It was breezing by before, but now it got a little slower. The whole first part of the year with the football season was just flying through, but then the last few weeks felt really slow. It was all worth it though.

Q: After football season, do you play other sports?

KENNEDY: No, I’ve just been training. I did a little bit of basketball in intramurals and ran a little bit with the track team, but nothing official.

Q: Did you get into some of the Iowa workouts?

KENNEDY: Oh yeah, for sure.

Q: What did you think of those and where were your overall goals with your workouts this off-season?

KENNEDY: It was cool just seeing the difference between working out with the high school team and the things we do versus a place like Iowa. There are a lot of little workouts that you don’t understand will help you later on. At my school, we already did a lot of Olympic lifting, but Iowa is a lot more about targeting certain parts of the body. I was doing some of that outside of school with my trainer, but not as much with my team. Just to go in there and know we’re going to be doing stuff that’s going to help me in the long run and get through a whole season, that was really special for me to see. Just the challenge of the workouts is all going to pay off and help me out.

Q: When do you actually make the move to Iowa?

KENNEDY: We were going to drive and leave May 31, but then I realized I probably don’t need that much stuff, so we’re going to fly out instead on June 6.

Q: What are you looking forward to the most in getting out there and working with the team this summer?

KENNEDY: I just can’t wait to get to work honestly. Being able to be in the facility all of the time, being able to talk to my coaches all of the time and being able to talk to my teammates and get advice from the guys, I can’t wait. Hopefully that will help me get to a spot where I can show who I am and what I can do for this team and establish myself as a teammate as well. Also, just getting in the classroom and establishing myself not only in the football program, but in the school as well.

Q: What are you interested in studying?

KENNEDY: Psychology.

Q: Coaching wise, who do you stay in touch with the most at Iowa?

KENNEDY: I talk to Coach Bell a lot and still talk to Coach Woods, who was my original recruiter. Those are the main two that I talk with, but I’ve also talked to Coach Hodge a little bit and Coach Betts too. He actually played against my dad a few times, so he knew who I was as soon as I met him.

Q: What is Coach Bell’s message for you coming in?

KENNEDY: Coach Bell has just told me to come in ready to work. There’s a chance that I come in and redshirt, but at the same time I’m ready to come in and help the team in whatever way that I can. I want to come in not with the mindset that I’m going to redshirt but come in like I have to work hard and get ready for this season. I’m going to treat it like the NFL where I could get cut and have to earn my spot on the team. I’m planning to come in and work, always be on time, and do all the little things to be a good teammate.

Q: From your recruiting class, who are the main guys you stay in touch with?

KENNEDY: We have a whole group chat, so we’ve been talking a lot. Obviously, my position group especially, I talk with but really the whole class pretty much. We have a big group on Snapchat.

Q: What are you coming in at right now height and weight wise?

KENNEDY: I’m 6-3, 265.

Q: Are you coming in at defensive end, defensive tackle, or both kind of?

KENNEDY: I’ll probably play all around the defensive line.

Q: Does that suit you well? I know Coach Bell loves that versatility.

KENNEDY: Absolutely. Last year, I played only defensive end, but this year I moved all around. Going inside was really a lot easier for me. My dad played defensive tackle and the first game I moved inside it was like everything that I did just felt really natural. My dad and my coach both said I look nature at defensive tackle and I enjoy playing it. I enjoy the little things like causing a double team or maybe even a triple team and trying to create pressure from inside. I think it’s scarier for a quarterback to get pressure inside from a defensive tackle than from a defensive end sometimes, so I love doing that. Also, I like helping keep guys off my teammates and making their lives easier.

Q: With your journey to football, you didn’t start playing the game until later on in high school. What kind of led to that and how did it all go down?

KENNEDY: It was my junior year. I played some pee wee football when I was little, but then I stepped away and played mostly basketball. I thought I was going to be a hooper. But my junior year I transferred schools and the rule out here in Arizona is if you transfer and play a sport, you have to sit out half the season to play that sport again. I didn’t really want to do that, so I just decided to focus on football instead. My dad always talked about how much of a team game it is. Basketball can get pretty selfish at times and I just wanted to see what it was like to be part of a team where everyone out there really matters. In football, you can’t be on the field and not do your job. It’s not an option. If you don’t do your job, something bad is going to happen.

So I started my junior year, went out there and just learned as much as I could. We had a starter that got injured in the second game of the season, so I moved into the lineup and got serious minutes the rest of the year, which was great. Being in Arizona, we play a lot of Division I prospects and that only helped me even more. We ended up losing in the first round of the playoffs, so had a little bit longer of an off-season, and I got into the weight room and put on some bulk. I think I went from about 205 to 235.

Last summer, I was going to do a bunch of camps with my team, but a lot of the camps out here aren’t padded. With all the weight I put on, I really wanted to get a better feel for the game in pads, so I went out to a bunch of those camps instead and they were mostly in the Midwest and Northeast. I was gone for a like a month and did all of these camps. I went to the Iowa camp and they told me they’d get back to me. Iowa was like the one school where I was like super nervous for camp. It was like I really wanted to do well because this is a place I think I want to go. So I went to all of these camps and towards the very end I only had one Big Ten offer (Illinois) and then that spot got taken by someone else that committed. My very last camp was at UCLA and the coach there texted me and said they were going to wait and do an in-season evaluation. So my plan was to just keep working and ball out during the season because I didn’t really have any other offers that I wanted to take. That was my mentality, but as soon as I said that Coach Woods called and asked if I wanted to take an official visit to Iowa. He didn’t even really say they were offering, but with an official visit it’s pretty much like an offer is coming, so I said absolutely. After just coming off this well-traveled summer, I got right back on a plane and flew to Iowa City and ended up committing on my official visit.

Q: What was it about Iowa initially that made you think that’s a place you want to go?

KENNEDY: This is a funny story. With all of my camps, I went into them as if I was from there, like this is my backyard. So when I went to Illinois, I listened to a bunch of Chicago rappers, and when I went to New York, I listened to New York rappers, and stuff like that. I was just trying to get into the mindset of this is where I’m from and this is where I belong type of thing. When I went into Iowa, I literally just looked around and thought this really feels like home. That was because I was born in St. Louis and my backyard had a bunch of tall trees and green grass everywhere and it was beautiful. When I looked around Iowa’s practice facility when I was there for the camp, the whole area around it is just like that. It made me feel just like I was at my old home in St. Louis and really gave me a sense of comfort even as the coaches evaluated me at that camp. It just felt like this is where I’m supposed to be.

Q: As you got into football more and more, how much did it help having your dad as a resource being a former All-American and first round draft pick?

KENNEDY: It helps a lot, just understanding the game in little ways and understanding the little details. That’s what it’s all about for me. Being able to ask him about all of that is awesome. I get to see the game in a different way with him by my side. Just seeing little things that I can do to affect the game or things you might notice about an offensive lineman and learning how to study film in the proper way. Being around him has made me love film. I can’t get enough of it. I have a lot of fun doing the things other people might not want to do like film study or getting extra work in. He’s made all of that stuff fun to me and helped me a lot.

Q: It sounds like he never really pushed you to play football like some parents in his position might though?

KENNEDY: No, he was always supportive of whatever I wanted to do. I wanted to play basketball, so he helped me sign up for AAU teams and went to all my games and was always very supportive.

Q: What’s his advice to you been as you get ready to leave for college?

KENNEDY: He’s just told me to have fun and enjoy the process.

Q: You mentioned your height being 6-3 before, but what’s your wingspan?

KENNEDY: I haven’t measured it in a while, but the last time I did it was 7-feet.

Q: How does that help your game and what would you say are your overall strengths coming in?

KENNEDY: I think I’m just starting to understand the game more and more and know how to play my role and be in the right position and play the game the right way. I’m getting a lot stronger and playing more powerful, being able to handle double teams, and stuff like that. There’s obviously a lot more I can work on and improve as I go through camp, but I’m coming in ready to work and ready to help the team in any way that I can.

Q: Have you found out what number you are wearing yet?

KENNEDY: No. I’m trying to get #99, but we’ll see.

Kennedy verbally committed to Iowa on June 26, 2023, choosing the Hawkeyes over scholarship offers from Illinois, Oregon State, UTEP, Idaho, Bowling Green, Fordham, and Northern Arizona.

As a senior, Kennedy had had 49 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and 18 quarterback hurries for Brophy College Prep this past season.

High School Highlights

Kennedy is a three-star prospect with an On3 Industry Ranking of 86.16.

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