Top 100 DL Nigel Smith announces Top 8 schools

One of Penn State’s top defensive prospects announced his top schools Monday in Texas native Nigel Smith. Listed at 6-foot-4, 264 pounds, Smith has been extraordinarily active when it comes to visits, checking out 17 different schools since the summer of 2021. According to On3’s Visit Center, he’s taken 42 total unofficial visits. You won’t find many players who have taken more.

Now, the Top 100 prospect, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, has narrowed his list to eight schools. In addition to Penn State, Smith included Arkansas, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Rutgers, Texas and Texas A&M.

“I have built such a good relationship with this coaching staff,” Smith told On3 about why Penn State made his top schools. “They have made it clear I’m their guy and I feel they can develop me to get to the NFL.”

As for his other schools, Smith opened up about each to On3’s Hayes Fawcett.

Ohio State– Coach LJ gave me one of my first couple offers and has stayed on it for recruitment for over two years. Plus his history of putting people in the league is with the greats.

Oklahoma – Has made it clear since that new staff got there that I was their guy and I was the first one they offered for DE. I have built a great relationship with so many of the coaches and they had a great history of putting guys into the league at Clemson. I also really like their SOUL program.

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Texas A&M– I think I fit into their defensive scheme better than a lot of other schools on top of Coach Price being a great D-line coach. I love the school and their Aggie network.

Texas– They are a school that is on the come up now with the talent they have been getting in the portal and from commits. One of my best friends, Trevor Goosby, is going to play [left tackle] there and he has been on it when it comes to recruiting me. Coach Davis has great energy at practice and has coached in the NFL, so [he] knows what his guys need for the next level.

Rutgers– They have been recruiting since my freshman year and it was a crazy story on how they even found me. But I have some family down there, enjoy every time I’m in Jersey, and Coach Schiano has every connection to make you successful on top of the coaching.

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Georgia– They have been dominating the past couple years, obviously, and I really think I fit into their defense well. Coach Scott talked about the guys he will be losing and how the ’24 class is important for the DE. 

Arkansas– Coach Pittman is one of the most personable and down-to-earth coaches there is. Coach Adams has put together a really good D-line and I love the campus and school itself.

Smith hasn’t announced his complete official visit schedule yet, but he is expected to use one of his five allotted visits to return to Penn State in June. It’ll be his third visit to Penn State overall, with his most recent being for the Blue-White Game in April.

Smith said that Penn State head coach James Franklin made it “very clear” during a one-on-one conversation in April that he won’t go down without a fight.

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“Coach Franklin made it very clear that they’re not going to let me go to Ohio State or Texas A&M or any of my other top schools,” Smith said. “He said that I’m their top defensive end and they’re not going to lose me to anyone else. He said they’re going to make it clear that I’m their top D-end. They don’t want me to have any thoughts about them not recruiting me the hardest they can possibly recruit me.”

The decision to promote Deion Barnes when John Scott left for the NFL also helped.

“We hit it off pretty well. We got to talk about how he was in the league. He’s a cool dude,” Smith said, referring to Barnes. “He was previously the assistant D-line coach, so I knew him but felt like I got to know him much more on this trip.

“But when I found out that he was taking over that spot, it did bring a little more trust for me. I was excited that it was someone I already knew. I liked that they were staying within Penn State. We’ve hopped on a couple of calls and have stayed in touch weekly since he’s been hired. Getting down there and being able to talk to him in person was great.”