Many athletes have moments in their early careers when they’re told they’re not good enough — and for Roquan Smith, that moment may have come at the hands of Kirby Smart during a high school visit to Alabama.
At the time, Smart was Alabama’s defensive coordinator and reportedly questioned whether Smith was “too small” to play linebacker at the collegiate level. Though Smart never told him directly, Smith later heard those comments and took them to heart — but not with regret. Instead, he viewed it as confirmation that Alabama wasn’t the right place for him.
“I don’t know if that’s 100% true, but I heard it — that I was too small to play linebacker there,” Smith said recently on the Pardon My Take podcast. “And honestly, I didn’t really like Bama like that. I went for the experience. People said the environment was cool, so I wanted to check it out. But I was never serious about going there, and maybe they didn’t want me either. So it worked out for both sides.”
Instead, Smith committed to Georgia — and fate had its own twist in store. Just a year later, Kirby Smart took over as the Bulldogs’ head coach. The same coach who allegedly doubted him now oversaw his development. Rather than hold a grudge, Smith locked in, determined to show his value.
“When I got to Georgia, it was like, ‘I’m home,’” Smith said. “I knew if I was the best player out there, they couldn’t ignore me. I just went out every day and proved it.”
And prove it he did. By 2017, Smith had become the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, leading Georgia in tackles (137), tackles for loss (14), and sacks (6.5) while helping guide the Bulldogs to the national championship game — ironically, against Alabama.
Though Georgia came up short in that title matchup, Smith’s individual journey came full circle. He was drafted in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft and has since become one of the NFL’s premier linebackers with three Pro Bowl selections. Even Smart, in later interviews, admitted he underestimated Smith in high school — a mistake Smith turned into motivation and fuel for greatness.
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