QB Smith: UCF is a great place to be

UCF may have found their quarterback of the future.

Sawyer Smith, who emerged as the staff's top target during the spring, committed to the Knights on Tuesday evening.

The 6-foot-3, 196-pound signal caller from Tate High School near Pensacola becomes the third commit of the 2016 recruiting cycle and gives the coaches a centerpiece to start building a class around.

"I'm pretty excited right now," Smith said a few minutes after announcing his decision via Twitter. "When I started playing quarterback as a freshman I always wanted to play at UCF. Then I finally got the offer a few weeks ago. Coach Brent Key had come down and watched me practice and liked me a lot. It's what I always wanted to do. After the offer I played it cool for a couple weeks, thought about it, then I sat down with my family today and we made the decision."

Smith's fandom only grew in 2013 when UCF and Blake Bortles marched all the way to a Fiesta Bowl victory.

"I just remember seeing a UCF game on TV, saw Bortles playing and I just liked how he played," Smith said. "I fell in love with the team and just the whole situation. I was like, 'Man, I think I can do that.' I did my research and fell in love with the campus when I visited last year. You can't go wrong there."

Brent Key, UCF's offensive coordinator, made it clear a few weeks ago that he was the quarterback they wanted.

"We've been talking all the time ever since he came down," Smith said. "He made it obvious they wanted me. Today I was just thinking why should I drag this out when I can focus on everything else. Get it out of the way. This is what I want to do. I called him on the phone, asked a few questions first to make sure everything was right, then I told him I want to go ahead and commit. He was excited as I was. He was pretty pumped and excited to get a quarterback. Build that class around me, he said. He said it'll help get it rolling for 2016. I'm a Knight now."

Smith has a call scheduled with head coach George O'Leary on Wednesday. A visit will likely follow June 12.

"Our team is coming down to Orlando for a seven-on-seven so we're going to swing by UCF," Smith said.

His offers included USF, Mississippi State, Syracuse, Troy, Southern Miss, South Alabama and Georgia Southern.

"UCF is close to home, just a six-hour drive," Smith said. "It's a good offense for me. The coaches there are great. I love the location in Orlando. It's a great place to be."

As a December graduate, Smith is looking to compete as soon as he steps foot on campus in January.

"I'm obviously focused on my senior year and looking to get better as the season goes on," Smith said. "We're trying to get to the state championship game. Then I'll get to UCF and start grinding. I think I'll be in a pretty good situation after Holman. I'm just looking forward to competing and helping everybody around me get better. I just want to be a good competitor."

What kind of player is UCF getting?

"My strength would be how versatile I am playing quarterback," Smith said. "I can run it and I can throw it. I can put defenses in a jam. I can beat them with the run game or pass game. The biggest thing I need to work on is my patience. That's what my coach tells me. Sometimes I try to force stuff. I just need to stay patient and work on accuracy to become an even better QB."

As for his style of play, comparisons to Johnny Manziel are often made.

"I don't really care about it, but that's what they say," Smith said. "I like to throw it more than he did though. He didn't throw it as much."

Smith has great speed not just for a quarterback, but any position.

"I run about a 4.5 to a 4.6 so I can run a little bit," Smith said. "I can get out of trouble."

A couple years ago, Smith thought his future was in baseball. A top outfielder and hitter, he had made an early commitment to Alabama where his brother Austin Smith recently wrapped up a successful career. Earlier this spring he decided to focus on football once his recruitment started to take off.

"I almost didn't play football in high school, to be perfectly honest," Smith said. "I was just going to do baseball. We moved across town and I was going to a new school. They didn't have a quarterback. My friends ended up talking me into it. I played my freshman year and just fell in love with it.

"My freshman and halfway through my sophomore year I was just playing for fun, that's it. Then halfway through my sophomore year I realized, 'Man, I'm kinda good at this.' Maybe I can run with it. Then last summer going into my junior year, a few coaches came down and talked to me. My coaches were telling me they said I could play at the next level. I had a really good year as a junior and realized I can play this game. I can do this."

Smith joins wide receivers Phil Benker and Malick Mbodj in UCF's class, which should start to pick up steam with camps and unofficial visits ramping up in June.

Tonight I made the decision to fully commit to UCF! I'm excited to be a knight!! Go knights!! #goldenknight #pumped pic.twitter.com/LfHDrKmgwW- Sawyer Smith (@smittyyy22) June 3, 2015

UCF got better today! #ChargeOn- UCF FB Recruiting (@UCF_Recruiting) June 3, 2015

Can't wait to see what else is going to happen by the time the week ends with 7 on 7 Saturday!! #BuiltByUCF #whosnext- Coach Brent Key (@CoachBrentKey) June 3, 2015

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