| USC Trojans — No. 42 | |
| Linebacker | Junior |
| Major: Communications | |
| Date of birth: June 24, 1991 | |
| Place of birth: Phoenix, Arizona | |
| Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | Weight: 250 lb (113 kg; 17 st 12 lb) |
| Career history | |
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| High school: Desert Vista High School, Phoenix, Arizona |
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College(s):
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Stats at ESPN.com | |
Devon Kennard (born June 24, 1991) is an American football linebacker. He currently attends USC. Kennard was considered one of the top football prospects in the United States.[1][2][3][4] He is a U.S. Army All-American.[5]
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As a sophomore in 2006, he recorded 81 tackles and 7 quarterback sacks. During his junior year, Kennard had 111 tackles and 24 ½ sacks, helping the Desert Vista Thunder to the Class 5A Division I title game.[1] For his senior year, Kennard was expected to play both fullback and tailback on offense for the Thunder in addition to his defensive duties, until top tailback Marcus Washington, an Arizona State recruit, returned from a stress fracture in his leg.[1] Desert Vista is ranked pre-season #14 in the nation by recruiting service Rivals.com.[6]
In Desert Vista's 21-20 victory over Chandler High School, Kennard suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, causing him to miss the rest of the football season.[7] On the season Kennard had 16 carries for 132 yards with five touchdowns. Defensively, he had 18 tackles and 1½ sacks while facing double and triple teams.[8]
Recruited by over forty schools nation-wide, Kennard initially considered Arizona State, California, Florida, Miami, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, UCLA, and USC.[4] He eventually cut his list to California, Texas and USC.[1][9] Kennard attended summer camps with USC following his sophomore and junior seasons in high school, and grew close to USC-commit Matt Barkley.[9][10] At one point, Barkley and Kennard were ranked #1 and #2 for overall prospects in the class of 2009 by Rivals.com. He was rated the No. 1 defensive prospect by a CSTV analyst, and the top defensive end by ESPN.com.[4][11]
Kennard called the recruiting process "a business," telling his local paper, "They're trying to go after good players. They think you're a good player, and that's an honor, but they think somebody else is a good player, too. If you get all caught up, your head is going to get huge. I consider the whole process a business. It's a business on my end and on theirs. They've got to try to get the best players and I've got to try to go to the best program for me."[12] Kennard announced his decision to attend USC at press conference on January 27, 2009.[13]
In his true freshman year at USC, Kennard began the season as a backup defensive end, but by midseason was seeing key action primarily in pass rushing situations. He then was moved to strongside linebacker. Appearing in 12 games and starting in five, he had 34 tackles, including 2 for losses, plus 3 deflections, 1 fumble recovery and 1 forced fumble. He made the 2009 Pac-10 All-Freshman first teams by ESPN and Sporting News, and won USC's John McKay Award.
Devon Kennard is the son of Derek Kennard, who played in the National Football League with the Arizona Cardinals, the New Orleans Saints and the Dallas Cowboys, helping the latter to win Super Bowl XXX.[14] The elder Kennard, a native of Stockton, California, attended the University of Nevada, Reno.[14]