Photos courtesy of Tennessee Athletics
Trey Smith, honorary recipient of the Jim and Natalie Haslam Athletic Scholarship and the Phillip Fulmer Award for Excellence Scholarship, has chosen UT over the NFL draft in 2020.
In the 2020 TaxSlayer Bowl, 6-foot-6, 325-pound junior Trey Smith played an important role in helping UT’s offense score 14 points in the last five minutes in a come-from-behind 23–22 victory over Indiana. “It was nerve-wracking,” says Smith. “But overall, we bought in to what coach Pruitt was teaching, and it paid off.”
Smith was a vocal team leader this fall and a mentor to young linemen, in part using tools he developed in the 2017–18 cohort of the VOLeaders Academy. “It’s all about servant leadership,” he says, “doing what you can to learn to help people, whether that’s leading by example or being vocal at times. The simulations we did in class definitely helped during the season. They help you understand when you need to speak, when you need to be quiet, and when you just need to set an example.”
A week after the bowl game, Smith announced that, rather than enter the 2020 NFL draft, he will remain at UT for his senior season. He did so by using the same words quarterback Peyton Manning used in 1997: “I made up my mind and I don’t expect to ever look back. I’m going to stay at the University of Tennessee.” Afterward, Smith said to reporters, “I wanted to pay homage to the GOAT [greatest of all time]. I just wanted to be able to bring that little piece of legacy, if that makes sense, bring that back to Tennessee to get the excitement back.”
Smith has had a roller-coaster playing career. Ranked by ESPN as the number one overall prospect in the recruiting class of 2017, he chose Tennessee over Ohio State, Ole Miss, and Alabama. He started all 12 games as a freshman and made the freshman All-America team.
We are surely thankful for all the generous gifts of donors and for everything that enables us to perform at a high level. We couldn’t run these programs without their generous contributions.
– Trey Smith, honorary recipient of the Jim and Natalie Haslam Athletic Scholarship and the Phillip Fulmer Award for Excellence Scholarship
Then, in February 2018, Smith was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs after he struggled to get through an offseason workout. Having lung issues was especially disconcerting for Smith since his mother, Dorsetta, had died of congestive heart failure in 2015 at age 51. He missed spring practice but returned to start the first seven games of his sophomore season, only to face another health challenge that sidelined him the duration of the season. He once again missed spring practice and wasn’t cleared for contact until August.
Smith continued to be limited to off-the-field conditioning during the spring before returning to practice in August. He got the medical green light to play just a week before the season opener, but only following a specialized medical plan to limit his practice participation. “Initially, there was a lot more fear,” said Smith, “a lot more doubt, because obviously it hadn’t been done.”
Smith decided to stay at UT in part to refine his skills and increase his market value, but, he notes, “I’ve got a lot of family and friends at Tennessee.” That includes his sister Ashley (’13), who was a student manager for Pat Summitt and is now director of student–athlete development at UT’s Thornton Athletics Student Life Center. “Three or four times a week I stop by her office and mess with her,” says Smith. On January 29, Ashley will lead a group of nine students, including Trey, a sport management and recreation major, to Super Bowl LIV in Miami to learn firsthand what it takes to stage such a major event.
Speaking for all scholarship athletes, Smith says, “We are surely thankful for all the generous gifts of donors and for everything that enables us to perform at a high level. We couldn’t run these programs without their generous contributions.”
Throughout his health struggles, Smith has been an active speaker to youth groups, elementary schools, and organizations. Last winter he spearheaded a coat drive for Knox Area Rescue Ministry, sparking the donation of 1,000 coats over five days. “I’ll be back again this year, for sure,” he says.
