Warren County Pioneer Xavier Simmons is continuing his transition on the football field.
Simmons enters his senior year at Warren County. He started playing as a tackle his first couple of years. Simmons then slimmed down and is now a defensive end and tight end for the Pioneers. Simmons said one similarity stands out when using his time at tackle to play at the new positions.
“Keeping my feet moving and never stop and just having the grit of a lineman,” Simmons said. “And don’t let nothing happen to my quarterback. Don’t let nothing happen, you’re in the trenches all day, every day, and that’s what has really built me to be a great tackle and a great lineman.”
Xavier Simmons hopes to play college football for the University of Tennessee. Simmons said he is getting used to Warren County’s new system.
“I feel like this year we’re there and like we’ve all been putting in that work,” Simmons said. “We’re actually putting the work in, we’re actually grinding together, suffering together, doing everything together, and it’s a whole lot better than last year.”
Simmons said his favorite part of playing football is something new to the Pioneers.
“My favorite part of football would probably be doing commitment camp,” Simmons said. “That’s where we all come in and we just stay here for the weekend and we just have practices, we just grind together, just go through everything together and that just really builds the team and that’s probably my favorite moment of high school football.
Warren County holds their commitment camp at the end of July. Simmons said their practices start at midnight and extend into the early morning hours. Simmons said he does not expect the camp to change under new head coach Eric Belew.
The Pioneers were held without a win last year, finishing at 0-10.
