Minnesota Football Recruiting: Terell Smith Commits to Gophers

(*Editor's note...What the heck does "Commitment to Eight" mean? It is our new recurring title for recruit commitments referencing a commitment to work towards the Gopher's Eighth National Championship.)

The Gophers, even with a new coaching staff in place, continue to mine Georgia for speedy defensive backs. The latest is Terell Smith, a tall corner who one of the fastest DBs in Georgia.

Quotables

Ryan Burns of GopherIllustrated ($cout).

"Coach Fleck and Mo were the Minnesota coaches I'd been talking with most lately, and coach Mo's been saying since Day One that I'm a priority for Minnesota," Smith explained to GI. "He also shows me I'm a priority and he's let me know everything I need to know about Minnesota. Coach Fleck always tells me about the opportunity I have at Minnesota, and he really wants me to come in and play for him as a freshman. My interest in Minnesota was so high because the coaches show me I'm their number one guy and they show me that I'm a priority. That means a lot to me. They want me at cornerback playing man to man press coverage on the opponent's best wide out, and I'm good with that."

Measurables

Height: 6' 1"
Weight: 170 lbs.
Fake 40 Time: 4.4 (this kid is fast. Reportedly a 10.3 100 last Spring)

Big 4 Ratings:

Power 5 Offers - Missouri, Ole Miss, Indiana, Iowa St, Kentucky, Maryland, Oregon St

A consensus 3-star across all recruiting services. It is rather early for most of them to have positional rankings at this point.

Highlights

Junior year highlights:

TDG Analysis

In Two Words - if you have to remember just two things about this player...

• Fast
• Smooth

Absurd Comparisons

Smith is Jalen Myric with 3 more inches of height. The speed is similar and the way he goes after the ball is as well. Watching Smith run is like watching a deer, just effortless and smooth. Myric plus a couple inches should equate to being drafted right? We shall see.

Scheme Fit

Two corners in this class so far and both are over 6’ with good speed. I love the way that Smith, as a WR in high school, goes up high and goes to get jump balls thrown by his QB. I suspect that the way Fleck values the ball, he’ll love Smith going after balls like that on defense.

Impact on Other Prospects?

I think they’ll continue to bring in more DBs in this class. Smith is incredibly fast, plays for a successful Georgia program, is going to several big camps this Spring/Summer and is planning to take all 5 of his visits. So this recruitment is just beginning and his verbal should have zero impact on other prospects.

Recruiting Map

coming soon...let me get through March Madness.