95 Days To Purdue Football: Kevin Pamphile

I can empathize with Kevin Pamphile. My feet hurt like hell nearly every day, especially my right foot. I have had the following officially diagnosed in my lifetime:

• An extra bone in both feet that has messed with tendons (the left of which was corrected by surgery in 1996).
• Arthritis in the big toe joints of both feet, necessitating custom orthotics for the last decade.
• Torn ligaments in my right foot.
• A busted bursa sac in my right foot near the Achilles tendon.
• Achilles tendonitis.
• Stress fracture in right foot.

So last year, when Kevin Pamphile was expected to be a big contributor along the defensive line, but was sidetracked due to his feet. I empathized. Here is a guy that is physically gifted, but he is still very raw in his talent. He is one of the first Danny Hope recruits as a Florida speed guy, but he is teetering at the peak of potential energy without turning into kenetic energy yet.

Kevin Pamphile - So. (RS)

Hometown: Miami, FL (Miami Central HS)

Defensive Tackle

6'5" 280 pounds

2011 Projection: Contributor at Defensive Tackle

You cannot teach 6'5" 280 pounds. That is just a beastly human worthy of respect. Kevin Pamphile has been gifted with this size, and he needs o embrace the inner attitude to throw offensive guards left and right and get to the ball carrier. He redshirted in 2009, and last season a stress fracture in his foot severely hampered his effectiveness. He was projected to be a starter along with Kawann Short on the defensive line, but his injuries gave way to Bruce Gaston. With short being a rampaging beast of a human being and Gaston having a good season, Pamphile is likely a little further down on the depth chart, but he can still be a contributor in 2011.

Pamphile saw action in six games last year and notched a pair of tackles. Like everyone else it seems, injuries really messed with his progress. He only played football for his senior year of high school before his redshirt year in 2009.

He is athletic given that he averaged a double-double for Miami Central's basketball team. In fact, he originally thought he was going to get a basketball scholarship before football. This is a kid that has a great chance to be an impact player this year.