Tennessee Football: OL Trey Smith Helping Vols On the Field & Recruiting

Tennessee football freshman offensive lineman Trey Smith has generated buzz with his play this spring. But he’s also helping the Volunteers in recruiting.

The story of spring practice for Tennessee football this year was supposed to be about the quarterback battle. After all, the Vols have to find somebody to replace Joshua Dobbs at the position.

However, while that story continues to develop, a young offensive lineman who should still be a senior in high school has been generating his own headlines.

Trey Smith committed to the Vols in December and was an early enrollee in January. A four-star on Rivals, some recruiting services had the 6’6″ 313-pound Jackson, Tenn. prospect ranked as the top player in the country.

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But given the history of Tennessee football offensive linemen under Butch Jones, it was hard to imagine Smith seeing any playing time this Fall. Consensus is that it takes a year to learn Jones’s system.

Smith is shattering that consensus.

Numerous reports about him suggest that he is developing rapidly. Wes Rucker dared to post on GoVols247 last week the thought of Trey Smith starting this Fall, noting that Smith has had a ‘standout spring.’

But that’s not all. The coaches have clearly bought in and are beginning to hype him up.

Rucker reported on GoVols247 this past Monday that Smith has been going head-to-head with Jonathan Kongbo in numerous one-on-one drills this spring.

Given the fact that the coaches expect Kongbo to break out into a superstar this year, it clearly shows they expect a lot from Smith.

And he has apparently impressed Kongbo as well.

But while the team continues to hype up Smith’s play, they are also using it for something else: recruiting.

It’s no secret that Butch Jones failed expectations with the 2017 Tennessee football recruiting class. Smith was one of the one bright spots.

Now, with Smith in, he can promote him and also use him to bring in other top prospects. If you don’t believe this is a motive, check this Twitter video released before spring practice started.

Hyping up an early enrollee like that is suspicious when you haven’t seen what he can do on the field in a college system. As you can see, this tweet also referred to him as the ‘#1 overall recruit in the nation.’

Knowing this, it’s clear the coaches have had a motive from the start to hype Smith up. They can use him to send a message to top recruits that they have a chance to play early in Knoxville.

That could be why they’re trying to push him as a potential starter this Fall. Jones, Walt Wells, and Larry Scott haven’t run from those headlines.

But that’s not the only way Smith helps recruiting. The coaches are actually using Smith to recruit as well.

He tried to bring in a couple of guys to the Vols during this past National Signing Day, although it didn’t work.

Now he’s in the process of helping Tennessee football recruit four-star offensive lineman Max Wray for 2018.

Wray de-committed from Georgia, and Smith showed him around campus late last month.

All of this sends a clear signal. Yes, based on reports, Smith looks to be the real deal. He has a real chance of starting this Fall.

And he could help the Tennessee football offensive line in many ways.

Must Read: Tennessee Football: What if Lane Kiffin Never Left the Vols?

But he’s also helping the Vols in recruiting. So while everybody outside of Knoxville focuses on the quarterback race, this young in-state prospect is taking up lots of headlines on his own.

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Tennessee Football: OL Trey Smith Helps Vols On the Field and In Recruiting

By Caleb Calhoun | Apr 12, 2017

Tennessee football freshman offensive lineman Trey Smith has generated buzz with his play this spring. But he’s also helping the Volunteers in recruiting.