Tennessee football: Top 10 NFL careers of Vols taken in second round
Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. 1992; Pick 51. player. Defensive Lineman. Chuck Smith. 9. 44
He returned to Tennessee football in the early 2010s to work under Derek Dooley for a brief period of time. But before he was known as a coach, Chuck Smith was a legendary player for the Vols and part of that elite group of talent in the early 1990s that propelled the program to national prominence, where it would stay for 20 years.
Like Dale Carter, Smith was a junior college transfer onto the 1990 team. He helped UT win its second straight SEC Championship that year, and they continued their success into 1991, as Johnny Majors finally had the program at the level he wanted it. Because of his college success, the Atlanta Falcons drafted him in the second round in 1991.
It was perfect for Smith, who was from Athens, just an hour away. He did not let the Falcons down. When he signed, he was a teammate of Deion Sanders, and he played there for eight years, reaching All-Pro in 1997 and helping them reach the Super Bowl in 1998.
The 6’2″ 257-pound defensive end finished his career with the Carolina Panthers, ironically as a teammate of Reggie White’s, in 2000. Smith played in 125 games over nine years and started in 89 of them, logging 323 career tackles, 69.5 tackles for a loss, 58.5 career sacks, 20 forced fumbles 12 fumble recoveries and three picks, one returned for a touchdown in 1994.