{"id":63366,"date":"2024-07-30T22:30:23","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T03:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=63366"},"modified":"2024-07-30T22:30:23","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T03:30:23","slug":"dl-darrion-smith-commits-to-tennessee-over-ohio-state-it-just-feels-like-family-down-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/dl-darrion-smith-commits-to-tennessee-over-ohio-state-it-just-feels-like-family-down-there\/","title":{"rendered":"DL Darrion Smith commits to Tennessee over Ohio State: \u2018It just feels like family down there\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Baltimore St. Frances Academy<\/a><\/strong> defensive lineman Darrion Smith<\/a><\/strong> ended up with two dozen offers. The 6-foot-2, 260-pound versatile defensive lineman narrowed his list down to Ohio State<\/a><\/strong> and Tennessee<\/a><\/strong> before choosing the Vols.<\/p>\n

He was back in Knoxville over the weekend and that is when he made his final decision. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was going back and forth between Ohio State and Tennessee until this last visit,\u201d Smith told On3. \u201cI knew I liked Tennessee a lot going into the visit with my mom, but the visit just confirmed everything for me. On the visit, that is when I knew that I wanted to go to Tennessee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith first visited Knoxville a little over a year ago. After this past weekend, he has visited Tennessee five times and he loves the city, the people and the program. <\/p>\n

\u201cTennessee is a great place to be. It has what I am looking for. Coach Josh Heupel<\/a><\/strong> is a great coach that his players love. Coach Robert Ayers<\/a><\/strong> and coach Rodney Garner<\/a><\/strong> are guys I trust. The program is going up and it just feels like a family down there. <\/p>\n

\u201cEarlier this year, Tennessee started recruiting me hard. They stayed consistent and they made it feel like family. That made it an easy decision for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith is Tennessee\u2019s 21st commitment for the 2025 cycle<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

The staff at Tennessee played a big factor in Smith\u2019s decision<\/h2>\n

Heupel, Garner and Ayers all established relationships with Smith. Each played a role in his decision. <\/p>\n

\u201cCoach G is one of the best to ever do it when it comes to defensive linemen,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI know I can learn a lot from him. He has put a lot of guys in the NFL, and it is not only his coaching that I like a lot, but I like him as a person too. He is big on family and that played into my decision. Coach G is a great guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ayers helps Garner on the defense line, he has played in the NFL, and the former Vol connected with Smith. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a great relationship. Coach Ayers played in the league, he knows what it takes to get there and I have a lot of trust in him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huepel was very much involved in Smith\u2019s recruitment too. Smith likes the head coach\u2019s personality and what he is doing with the program. <\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Heupel is a true player\u2019s coach and Tennessee has been improving every year since he took over as the head coach. He is fun to be around, he is easy to talk to and his players want to play for him. Coach Heupel is an all-around good person, and that factors into the players wanting to go there and play for him. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the next few years, he is going to bring a national championship to Knoxville. The program is getting better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post DL Darrion Smith commits to Tennessee over Ohio State: \u2018It just feels like family down there\u2019<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Baltimore St. Frances Academy defensive lineman Darrion Smith ended up with two dozen offers. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63366"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63407,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63366\/revisions\/63407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}