Nolan Smith gives best recruiting pitch for Georgia after incredible Combine performance
INDIANAPOLIS — Damn Good Dawg Nolan Smith did a damn good job of selling Georgia on Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Not only did he run faster and jump higher than any other player in his position group but Smith also gave a recruiting pitch for Kirby Smart’s program in his post-workout interview on the NFL Network.
“They were in our locker room man. Our locker room is amazing. You see the three TVs. If you ever want to go to Georgia we’ve got a new locker room, new weight room. Let me give my spiel on Georgia,” Smith said when asked about the viral video of his teammates going crazy over his workout. “We have an indoor facility, outdoor facility, we just put in a brand new restaurant. Let me say that again, a restaurant. It’s called Bones. It’s amazing. Shoutout to Ms. C, Collier (Madaleno) our nutritionist, she’s amazing. We eat steak, lobster, the best of the best. Go Dawgs and go to Georgia.”
That’s not the only thing that stood out from his interview. In fact, his astonishment over his time and belief that he could have done better might be even more worthy of making headlines.
“I was just upset. I really wanted to just do everything full speed today. I thought I didn’t run my best race,” Smith said. “Cap said it looked good, Ryan Capretta at ProActive, he said it looked really good. I thought I didn’t run my best race. I thought I had a little more juice. I kind of, I felt like I was going 85 percent … It just, you don’t know. When you see the numbers, you think in your head, ‘Man, I really should have been faster.’ I thought I could run faster, but, yeah I’m happy with that.”
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Smith, who was making his return from a season-ending torn pectoral muscle suffered in late October, opted out of a second attempt at the 40 and did not participate in position specific drills. He said he “felt like (he) couldn’t be 100% in the drills” and instead is saving them for Georgia’s Pro Day in Athens on March 15.
At 238 pounds, Smith is the heaviest player since 2003, the first year of the Combine, to post a 40 time less than 4.4 seconds (4.39) and a vertical jump of better than 40 inches (41.5 inches) beating out the likes of Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf and New York Jets running back Breece Hall.
The Combine continues on Friday (3:00 p.m. ET) with defensive backs and kickers followed by quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends on Saturday (1:00 p.m. ET) and offensive linemen and running backs on Sunday (1:00 p.m. ET). NFL Network will air all days of the workouts live from Lucas Oil Stadium.
