Pretty good place, man[.] Amazing fans. It gets very loud up there, man, and I love the coaching staff there.
My coach (Larry Harold) had coached (former Tennessee players) Herman Lathers and Dallas Thomas back in Louisiana. He was telling me it was a pretty cool place, and the fans get pretty loud there, and theyre surrounded by the river, Smith said.
When I got there, it kind of caught me off guard how loud the fans get. It was by far the loudest game Ive been to, because I checked out the Georgia-LSU game. Georgia-LSU, it was, like, 92,000-plus. It was pretty loud. But I didnt know a stadium could get as loud as it got up there at Neyland.
If I had to pick a top five, it would probably be Auburn, Tennessee, UCLA, Ole Miss and South Carolina, said Smith, who holds offers from all five teams, along with Mississippi State, Kentucky and Syracuse. Thats in no order.
I met with coach Butch Jones. I talked to (linebackers) coach (Tommy) Thigpen. I met with all the coaches, Smith said. Coach Jancek, we talked a lot. He was like, he really needs me up there at Tennessee. Theyre losing, like, six linebackers after this year, and theyre only getting four to come in for the class of 14. He was like, I could come in with the Class of 15, and Ive got the possibility of early playing time.
