Once an ACC afterthought, Roberts is ready for redemption

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From atozsports.com:

Once an ACC afterthought, SMU star pass rusher Elijah Roberts is ready for redemption in 2024

Ryan Roberts
Jul 18, 2024

Once a well-regarded national recruit, current star SMU defensive end Elijah Roberts opted for the University of Miami, playing for perennial power Christopher Columbus High School. Roberts was not short of options, rated as a four-star recruit by both Rivals and ESPN. At that point, he chose the hometown Hurricanes over other offers from Florida State, Florida, Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee, Nebraska, Penn State, South Carolina, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, West Virginia, UCF, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, and Indiana among several others.

The rest of the story didn’t quite go to plan for Roberts at Miami. During his three years with the program, the 6-4, 275-pound defensive end recorded just 21 total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and 0.5 sacks. Obviously, his production was not what he imagined when he signed back in 2020.

Despite that less than stellar stretch, Roberts still looks back on his time with the Hurricanes fondly. Playing for your hometown team is something that kids dream about. It was a special time for the Florida native.

“Just being able to play in front of my family, I don’t think there was a game where I didn’t have five or more people there,” Roberts told The First Team Podcast. “That was probably the highlight of my time there. Being able to play against a Florida State being at Miami, playing at those rivalry games, just wearing the “U” on the side of my helmet was something I wanted to do as a kid. I’m glad I was able to do that.”

It wasn’t an easy decision, but Roberts was ready for the next chapter in his story. With big goals in mind, he wanted to find a place where he could showcase his talent. Roberts had one goal in mind.

“There’s so many people in the portal every year,” he explained. “Me leaving was when the portal first opened up. I wasn’t too big into the NIL stuff or playing at a specific school just because of the name. I just wanted to get on the field. Whether that was in this conference or that conference. I would have even gone down to DII if no DI team wanted me. I just wanted to play and I felt like if I could play meaningful snaps and be a guy who was counted on, I felt like I could produce.

“I entered the portal and Coach Coop and some of the other coaches at SMU were at Miami my first two years,” Roberts continued. “I believe about six coaches w4’ere there. I took my visit with a couple of teammates from Miami. It didn’t feel like I was coming from the state of Florida to Texas. It felt like I was still at home. It worked out in the best way for me.”

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