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Darris Smith beat the cornerback.
Of what he did.
Smith, one of Missouri’s soccer moving portal acquisitions in December, was Georgia’s Class 3A champion in the 400-meter dash and 4×400 relay. He took a few defensive steps back with no one else in the domain code. But instead of taking a few more steps and walking away, the two-way star slowed down the gallop to invite the challenge. . . according to your definition of the word “challenge”.
“He threw him to the ground,” said Jordan Mullis, Smith’s coach at Appling County High, “maybe about six inches deep,” before running him for a touchdown.
Of what he did.
“He likes to beat people up,” said Smith’s father, Darris Smith Sr. He likes to be aggressive. “
This is true. Darris Smith is naturally a defensive end.
And now he’s Missouri’s defensive end.
Mizzou finished his spring camp, Darris Smith’s first official batch in Colombia, and has to wait four months for players to report for the fall. Ten key members of the MU defense who went 11-2 and won the Cotton Bowl in 2023 are no longer eligible or are exploring career opportunities.
More: Missouri Basketball Transfer Portal Tracker: Who joins and leaves the Tigers?
At 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds, it’s hard to miss MU’s new defensive end, Darris Smith. He’s the kind of player, according to Mizzou’s new defensive finishing coach, Brian Early, who is the prototype of what his defensive end should look like.
Missouri’s defensive ends have big peaks to fill: updating the potential first-round draft pick and getting past running back Darius Robinson who occupies their forward.
The Tigers have Johnny Walker Jr. , the Cotton Bowl’s defensive MVP, filling the position that MU’s first-year defensive coordinator Batoon calls the role of “Joker,” who, in short, is a defenseman whose No. 1 task will be to run chaos in the backfield.
Mizzou has Darris Smith Jr. , who signed with the Tigers on Dec. 20 out of Georgia.
The first symptoms suggest that it is a collection on the portal.
“Darris Smith shined in the spring game,” MU head coach Eli Drinkwitz said March 22, “and he’s shined that way for us all spring. “
Missouri’s prototype for its boundary corridor, Early said, would look a lot like a basketball player’s body.
“I saw him come down from the box on a quick counterattack and put a ball about 3 feet above the defense,” Mullis said, “and his head hit the glass. “
Verify.
Ideally, Early said, the “Joker” end should be the team’s passer.
“He’s got the ability to throw the ball like a receiver,” Mullis said. “I’m a coach at one of the best schools, so it clearly killed the best students in the schools. You know, I know the SEC is different, but I guess we’re paying guys to teach you how to do it. The challenge with it is that it can bend over, it can run (and) it’s longer from the tips of the fingers than it is from head to toe.
Two-by-two on the plate.
And finally, the selected player will need to be able to “play in space”.
“He beat (current Arkansas running back) Rashod Dubinion his senior year (when) we played the team that won the state title,” Mullis said. “The guy had a really long run, and you know, obviously, we knew they had a Power Five guard, signed through the SEC, you know, and they took him down from the defensive end of game 6-6. It was pretty awesome.
Clean slate.
Darris Smith spent two years in his home state of the Georgia Bulldogs. He signed up for Kirby Smart’s team the same day an offer letter arrived at his home from Alabama, much to the chagrin of his father, Darris Smith Sr. , who supports Tide. Joked.
United’s newfound merit was manifested in the 2022 UGA national championship win over TCU, and in another in the Peach Bowl’s victory over Ohio State the last game, capping off their freshman campaign. He made the impression in 16 games, most commonly as an outside linebacker in the Dawgs’ typical 3-4 front.
But there’s a problem. Kirby Smart and the staff asked Smith to practice on the entire defensive side of the field. He did a few reps at the star-studded safety position and others as an outside linebacker, splitting his time between rooms.
There’s also a bigger challenge for soccer-obsessed students: I just didn’t have much time to play.
“He loves football,” Darris Smith Sr. said. I think it’s like eating dinner while you’re on the sidelines. You know, I was looking to have a better chance of getting on the field.
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So when he got in touch with Missouri, two days after Darris Smith entered his call on the portal, according to Dad, the selection was quick.
His father, when he heard about an upcoming stop in Missouri, begged him to go ahead and get engaged, give himself a chance to get to know the playbook and his chances of seeing playing time. Darris Smith entered the portal on Nov. 28. committed to MU less than a month later.
Smith was playing football at age 8, competing in races in front of his younger brother Darion Smith, a senior at Appling County High School, in the backyard.
It’s been great. Really great. Darris Smith Jr. eclipsed 6-footer in sixth grade. His younger brother didn’t like playing basketball with him, Darris Smith Sr. said, because his older brother was too tall.
When Mullis named him Appling County High’s defensive coordinator in Darris’ sophomore year before becoming his head coach, Smith weighed 220 pounds and was so skinny he “looked like a dummy. “Mullis used it all over the place, sending it to the athlete in the bobcat, throwing the ball to receiver X and, of course, letting him hunt quarterbacks.
The coach couldn’t stop him. Mullis had to stop him from weighing more than 350 pounds in high school, in case he got injured.
Smith played basketball for three years at top school, won a regional title and played in short-distance track events, posting a time of 21. 85 seconds in the 200s and a time of 49. 17 in the 400.
Length and speedArray. . . Sounds useful for a top-notch school football coach, doesn’t it?
“I mean, it just doesn’t look good,” Mullis said. He behaved well and ran very well, as if he was running slowly, so he didn’t look abnormal. It’s just that you realized that this guy was taller. “And he was moving faster than everyone else. . . You would have guessed he was a wonderful basketball player at the receiver position, and he comes out here and just throws big poles at people. Yes, I mean, it obviously wasn’t normal.
Now the advantage is a tiger. And apparently, it’s getting bigger and bigger.
Darris Smith Sr. traveled to Columbia, Missouri, for his son’s spring game on March 16. The day before, the Tigers had held an educational consultation open to family members.
During that time, Smith, along with Walker, transferred from Michigan State to Zion Young and second-year transfer from Arizona State to Joe Moore III to be the two defensive end depths.
More: Schrader and Rakestraw discuss NFL draft process, return for Missouri Football Pro Day
The father watched his son trot across the field. He had heard that he now weighed 247 pounds, an increase of more than 10 pounds since his days in Georgia, but saw evidence of it through images on social media.
Seeing him in person: Dad said with his mouth open.
“I like to say ‘Wow,'” Darris Smith Sr. said, “because I hadn’t noticed it that big. “
The Tigers have big shoes to fill. Robinson is an All-SEC performer and gets some love in the first circular based on his performances at the Senior Bowl and NFL Scouting Combine.
But Missouri welcomes a newcomer to campus.
“He had a young guy’s ability to be really strong with his hands. I was impressed. Obviously, they gave him big, long hands, but he had a certain violence towards him that a lot of the longer guys had. “”But I think he likes to play football and, you know, rarely a lot of kids can have talent, but they don’t like to play football. I think he likes to play football. .
This article made the impression in the Columbia Daily Tribune: ‘It’s not normal’: meet Darris Smith, Missouri’s no-nonsense new football player.