Tennessee already has a couple former Florida Gator commits currently pledged to them in their 2021 class. The Vols and Gators have gone head-to-head for a number of recruits over the years, and the 2021 cycle is no exception. Now, Tennessee finds themselves in the thick of things with another recruit who used to be committed to Florida.
Brashard Smith, an all-purpose athlete who plays for Miami Palmetto in Miami, Florida, tweeted out his list of top five teams in his recruitment on Thursday. The Vols were one of the five, as were the Florida Gators, the team Smith was once committed to. Auburn, Miami, and Oregon rounded out Smith’s top teams.
?TOP FIVE pic.twitter.com/peht4VxNRY
— ¹ ᵒᶠ ¹ (@BrashardS) May 21, 2020
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Smith is right outside of four-star range, coming in as the No. 350 overall prospect, No. 2 all-purpose back, and No. 53 recruit in the state of Florida.
The 5-foot-11, 194-pound athlete committed to Florida at the beginning of this year, committing on January 8th. But almost four months later on May 1st, Smith reopened his recruitment and decommitted from the Gators.
The Vols first extended an offer to Smith a year ago on May 8th. He holds offers from nearly 30 schools, including teams like Alabama, LSU, Penn State, and Nebraska that didn’t make his list of top teams. Smith has taken a visit to UT’s campus before, and ace recruiter Brian Niedermeyer is Tennessee’s primary recruiter for Smith.
Smith has exceptional speed and is a weapon that can be used all over the field on offense. He primarily plays as a slot receiver for Miami Palmetto, but he’s dangerous out of the backfield and when used in screens, too. Smith is also a capable kick returner and uses his acceleration and shiftiness to rip off big gains there as well.
As a junior last season, Smith caught 36 passes for 628 yards and 13 touchdowns to go along with a 98-yard kick-off return for a tochdown according to MaxPreps. Smith was named to the first team of the Miami Herald All-Dade 8A-6A selections and helped Miami Palmetto win a district title and make it to the second round of the 8A playoffs.
Smith is just one of a number of former Florida commits who has shown Tennessee a lot of love in this cycle. Five-star outside linebacker Terrence Lewis and four-star defensive back Kamar Wilcoxson were both committed to the Gators at one time, but now both are committed to the Vols. Smith and four-star safety Dink Jackson both have Tennessee among their top schools as of now, and four-star cornerback and current Florida commit Clinton Burton Jr. is another Vol target.
Tennessee now has 23 commitments in their 2021 class, a class that ranks No. 2 in the country and No. 1 in the SEC. The Vols have a number of running backs and wide receivers currently committed, which would likely be the role Smith would play in college.
