Noah Spears
	Height	6-3
	Weight	215
	40-yard Dash	4.69
	Bench Press	295
	Squat	415

247sports: ***
scout: ***
rivals: **
scout: No. 28 inside linebacker in nation
247sports: No 69 inside linebacker in nation
scout: No. 5 inside linebacker in Midland Region
247sports: No. 193 player in Texas
scout: No. 4 inside linebacker in Texas
First-team All-District 9-6A
First-team Academic All-District 9-6A

Last Year Statistics

100 tackles
1 interception
3 sacks
2 hurries
6 tackles for loss
1 forced fumbles

Strengths as a Player

Noah Spears is a tall, long-armed linebacker who plays faster in games than he times against a stopwatch. He is an aggressive pass rusher who often drew double-teams from opposing blockers and still showed a knack for regularly ending up around the ball, on both passing and running plays.

Interviews

Noah Spears on why he chose SMU:

The education at SMU is great — beyond great — and it’s close to home, which was important. My mom really liked SMU, and that was important, too. I want her to be able to come to a lot of my games, and I want to see my sister (6) grow up.

Personally, I think my mom always wanted me to go to SMU — you could say she liked it more than any other school. She would support me wherever I wanted to go, but I could tell she wanted me to go there, and I did, too.

I played two years in high school with (Delontae and Michael Scott), and it’s going to be fun to play with them again at the next level. We talked some this year, and they were like, “come with us. We’re going to get this thing turned around, we’re going to ball out together.” They were doing their part to get me to SMU.

Rodney (Clemons) was just straight-up about everything: how the coaches were, how classes were. He said the coaches were really good people, that they don’t change once you get there, like some coaches at some schools do. He said the coaches you practice for and play for are the same guys you met during recruiting.

I never really decommitted (after originally committing). Some reporter dude got the wrong information and he wrote it. When I read that, I called Coach Morris, told him that I hadn’t decommitted. I told him the reporter had mixed up some things, and that I still wanted to come to SMU.

I’m really looking forward to playing for Coach Mac (linebackers coach Archie McDaniel). He’s a guy I feel like I can joke around with, but at the same time, he’s going to make sure I get stuff done.

I played inside (linebacker) and outside in high school, but I don’t know how they’re going to use me yet at SMU. Coach Mac said he wants me to learn both the MIKE and WILL spots, so I have a greater chance of getting on the field. He said my advantage is that I can run, and what will separate me is how fast I can pick up the system.

(On giving up baseball to focus entirely on football): No, it wasn’t (difficult). Baseball … I like it, but I don’t love it like I love football. I’m looking forward to getting to SMU and learning the defense.