Kadarius Smith
	Height	6-3
	Weight	295
	40-yard Dash	4.87
	Bench Press	325
	Squat	"500-plus"
	Vertical Leap	25 inches

All-District (LT) second-team — junior year
Top 100 DFW (DMN)
247sports: ***
Scout: ***
Rivals: **
Scout: No. 14 center in country
Scout: No. 7 center in Midland Region
Scout: No. 7 center in Texas

Strengths as a Player

Kadarius “KD” Smith is an athletic, mobile blocker with exceptional lower-body strength (he squatted “500-plus” pounds well before his senior season). Some projected him as an interior lineman, but he will start out at SMU at tackle. His height and mobility have drawn comparisons to former SMU — and current Pittsburgh Steelers — tackle Kelvin Beachum, Jr., who made up for what some considered a slight lack of height for the position with speed, footwork/hand placement and mobility to reach the NFL. Like Beachum, Smith is a solid pass protector who runs extremely well for a lineman, often leading the Wildcats’ running backs upfield.

Interviews

Plano head coach Jaydon McCullough on Kadarius Smith:

KD is a very versatile player. He’s very athletic — he reminds me a lot of (Plano alum) Joseph Noteboom, who starts at right tackle for TCU. KD has that kind of athleticism. He can tie up any pass rusher, and we don’t have to leave someone in to help him, but he also can get out and run on running plays, and when he does, he can really block well on the run.

We do a lot of different stuff, as far as what we ask of our linemen. He’s very versatile and can do a lot of different things. That’s really what sets him apart: his versatility. He’s very strong, but he’s also very quick, and he understands leverage.

Physically, I don’t think he has topped out yet, either — not even close. I think the coaches at SMU will get even more out of him, and I’m excited to see that. When I got him, it was very new in the process, so he has made some big strides, but I think he can get a lot better, which is almost a little scary. He’s still going to grow — look at him, he still has that baby face. He’s just nowhere near what he can become physically. I look at him and I just see a 300-pound kid who can run. He can blast-block and he can pass-protect, but when we used him in our running game, he was the lead blocker, and when he gets moving …

Look, coaches aren’t stupid. There’s a reason he was so heavily recruited. Kids like that are hard to come by — it’s why they’re a precious commodity. Beyond what he does on the field, he’s a good kid, he’s smart, he’s a “yes sir, no sir” kind of guy. He’s not ever going to be a troublemaker.

You can tell he’s maturing, and I don’t mean physically. He told me, “Coach Morris and them are being real nice to me right now, but I know they’re going to be hard on me, aren’t they?” I told him, “heck yeah — of course they’re going to be hard on you, because they love you now. You’re one of their guys. As parents, as coaches, we’re all harder on our kids than anybody.”

I’m so proud of him and where he is right now, and even more excited about where he’s going to be in the future, and the resources SMU can give to him. Coach Morris has that thing headed in the right direction. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I told him there’s only one other time the energy and excitement around SMU football is like it is now, and that was in when they had the Pony Express. You can just tell by the way they do everything.

A lot of schools — good programs — came in after he committed, saying they wanted to talk to him, and a lot of them were asking me if I thought they could change his mind. It got pretty bad. One time, there were two coaches sitting in my office and KD sent me a text message saying, “if any coaches come in, tell them I’m not interested.” That told me what the kid wanted to do — he wanted to go to SMU.

I respect that. Nothing against kids that change their mind, because it’s a big decision and people change their minds. But there were a lot of coaches coming in, asking to see KD, and he said he had chosen SMU for a reason and was staying with SMU.

Kadarius Smith on why he chose SMU:

I liked Coach Fry right away. He shot me straight when we talked. It was total honesty from him, and I liked that. He has NFL experience, so he knows what he’s talking about, and he played (professionally) recently, so he knows what it takes to play after college. He knows what he had to do in order to get to the NFL, so he knows what we’ll need to do.

The opportunity to play in my hometown was a pretty big deal. We’re going to put the buzz back in the Pony Express — it would be lovely to have that back in Texas. The education, the coaches, the campus — they’re great, and now the program is headed in the right direction.

My mom passes SMU every day on the way to work. She said the decision was my decision, and she would have supported me no matter what, but she’s happy that I’m going to SMU. She loved the staff, and they really got her attention by caring about me and my well-being.

Some people have said I look like (Carolina Panthers offensive tackle) Michael Oher, because of my physical features, my build, my face. But as a player, I try to be like Chance Womack. He’s big and strong, and he doesn’t just block (defenders) — he finishes them.


The whole (official visit) weekend was really good, spent basically building a bond (with host Keaton Bates). We really didn’t talk too much about football. It was more about him letting me in to the lifestyle that is SMU football. We talked about how winning brings fans. That’s how it’s going to be when we start winning.

I could have gone a lot of places to play football, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Some places you go for football; you go to SMU for football and for the whole school.

They said I’ll play tackle when I get there, and I’m glad — that’s what I played in high school. The coaches said if I come in and learn what I’m supposed to do, I’ll get a chance. They said that nobody’s spot is guaranteed, and that there are no politics when it comes to playing time. They said there are no startingspots that are locked up until the first game, and then, we’ll still be competing.