North Carolina 2021 OL Colby Smith commits to Tennessee football

Jeremy Pruitt added to his hot recruiting streak for Tennessee football, as offensive lineman Colby Smith of Reidsville, N.C. committed to the Volunteers.

After a week of dominating the SEC, Jeremy Pruitt is taking Tennessee football over the mountains into ACC country to continue his recruiting roll. The Vols went into North Carolina, where Mack Brown is securing a top five class, on Monday.

Offensive lineman Colby Smith, who comes out of Rockingham County High School, which is in Wentworth, N.C., committed to the Vols that evening. A three-star on Rivals, Smith is Rocky Top’s eighth commitment within eight days.

Smith chose UT over schools in the Carolinas and in the ACC, including the Louisville Cardinals, N.C. State Wolfpack, North Carolina Tar Heels and South Carolina Gamecocks. He announced his commitment to Tennessee football on Twitter.

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Although he is the third commitment in the Vols’ 2021 recruiting class from North Carolina and the 18th commitment overall, Smith is the first offensive lineman in a class. That’s a rarity for Pruitt, who clearly likes to load up in the trenches on both sides of the ball each year.

However, Pruitt has done a very good job loading up the line in the past two recruiting classes, so the program is set on that front for a little bit. Still, Smith provides value and is another body, and you always want more depth up front.

At 6’7″ 285 pounds, Smith also is already providing size. He is listed as an offensive tackle, so his height will be very useful. Given how Pruitt values bigger guys up front, Smith will fit right in. Here is a look at his highlight reel.

As you can see, Smith has a good bit of athleticism since he plays on both sides of the ball, even lining up at defensive end at times. If he can maintain that and put on some weight, he could become an elite lineman in the SEC, so Pruitt may have found another steal.

When Smith committed, Tennessee football already had the No. 2 ranked class nationally and top-ranked class in the SEC on both Rivals and 247Sports. So Pruitt keeps adding to an elite class, although it won’t surpass the Ohio State Buckeyes for a No. 1 ranking.