Trey Smith facing new kind of pressure at Tennessee

Tennessee football early enrollee Trey Smith from Jackson, Tenn., is welcomed at the basketball game Wednesday night against South Carolina.
Tennessee football early enrollee Trey Smith from Jackson, Tenn., is welcomed at the basketball game Wednesday night against South Carolina.

KNOXVILLE - From Trey Smith's perspective, Knoxville may just be a bigger version of his hometown.

Jackson, Tenn., is a little more than 300 miles west on Interstate 40 from Tennessee's campus, but the Volunteers have plenty of supporters in the western part of the state.

No one can attest to the orange-tinted presence there more than Smith, one of the nation's top offensive line recruits who committed to the Vols in December and joined the program this week as one of five early enrollees.

"There's a great amount of pressure going to Tennessee," Smith said Thursdsay afternoon inside Neyland Stadium's locker room. "I don't mind it. Obviously I'm home now, so I appreciate it."

Smith's status as a five-star football recruit - the 6-foot-6, 313-pounder is the No. 1 player in the 2017 class, according to ESPN - made him a bit of a celebrity even though he was just an oversized high school kid, and he laughed as he recalled random instances when Tennessee fans in Jackson would let him know what college he should pick.

"A good percentage of the citizens of the great city of Jackson are Tennessee fans," he said. "Going to school one morning, 'Go, Vols, Trey,' and they drive off. Or going to the grocery store, 'You're that Trey Smith kid, right? Go, Vols.'"

He recalled other occasions when he'd be playing his Xbox and hear a knock on the door, where his neighbor was waiting to talk Tennessee football with him on the porch of his house for half an hour.

"I was never annoyed," Smith said. "I was thankful. If somebody cares about you that much to actually put forth the effort, I was sort of thankful for it."

Tennessee's coaching staff made Smith a priority long before he picked the Vols over Alabama and Ohio State last month, and he's known head coach Butch Jones and some of his assistants for four years now.

The Vols held a satellite camp last summer at his school (University School of Jackson) and didn't bring in any other prospects when Smith made his official visit just days before his announcement.

Plenty of other top-flight programs also made Smith a recruiting priority, but Tennessee had something else no other school could offer.

"Tennessee just means so much more, especially being an in-state guy," Smith said. "The opportunities are truly unique here. The resources they have available here, this great media staff, the people within the building. Coach Jones has really had a great staff to help you in any aspect that you need. There's a great academic staff at (the)Thornton (Center).

"The little nuances of this place, that field out there, the fans every day, my neighbors coming up and the love for Tennessee football in this state was too much to pass down. I have to return it to its greatness."

Smith is impressively sharp for a 17-year-old. He plans to major in sports management, though he's not sure what he wants his career beyond football to be. Two possible paths include becoming a football television analyst - he's certainly articulate enough for the role - or getting involved with an apparel company.

"I think the big guys are sort of neglected," he quipped, "so I want to do something for linemen."

Smith could play guard or tackle for the Vols, and he's fully aware of the expectations created by his lofty recruiting billing.

"There's absolutely extra pressure, especially from the fans," he said. "I'm sorry if it doesn't happen (right away). It's a developmental position. You've got to realize and be realistic with it. I'm not going to rush it. I don't feel like I am, but I'm just trying to work hard and eventually maybe I'll get there."

The level-headed Smith isn't lacking motivation. He wants to live up to his recruiting ranking and follow in the footsteps of some other touted tackles other Southeastern Conference programs have had in recent years. Smith may have a humble attitude, but he made it clear he wants to "make a name for myself" with the Vols.

"Great power, great responsibility," he said. "When I went to the (Under Armour All-American Game), I had really one objective in mind, to get a little bit of respect from them, too. I knew everybody was going to be at my throat. Being the No. 1 guy, why would you not? It's almost like a bounty on your head.

"With that, there's a different way you have to act. You just can't act a certain way. That's just what comes with it. You're just put in the spotlight, and I'm up to the test."

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.

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