Pitt In Jamal Smith’s Top 3

Pitt is in the hunt for many talented defensive players, the latest being Florida DE Jamal Smith.

“My top 3 is Pitt, Oregon State and NC State”,  said Smith. “I’m definitely going to Pitt and Oregon State for official visits and then I’ll decide in mid-season.”

Smith (Hialeah, Florida) is a 6-3, 260 lb strong-side defensive end that after watching his film, seems like a natural for Pat Narduzzi’s attack style defense.

The reputation of Narduzzi’s defense has caught the eye of Smith who told me, “They run a fast pace defense with a lot of power up front and won’t have to depend on just me. The whole team does there part.”

Another reason Smith is attracted to Pitt is the amount of talent they’re putting in the NFL.

Smith told DreamBackfield.com, “They have a lot of great players to come out of Pitt such as Larry Fitzgerald, Dan Marino, LeSean McCoy and Aaron Donald. So that means that Pitt is doing something good.”

Smith pointed out one more thing about McCoy.

“McCoy played at Bunche Park where I played at when I was young so he must have loved it”

Another thing that Smith loves about Pitt is defensive line coach Tom Sims.  “Me and Coach Sims are close. We have been communicating a lot and I feel comfortable talking to him about anything. I like that Coach Sims played at Pitt and played in the league which can also give me a chance to make it”, said Smith.

If Smith goes on to one day make the NFL he won’t be the only person in his family to do it.  His brother, D’Joun, just got drafted in the third round by the Indianapolis Colts. His other brother, Jason, is a sophomore linebacker at Bethune-Cookman.

The 3-star defensive end hasn’t been to Pittsburgh but is looking forward to doing so.

“I can’t wait to go up to Pitt man….I’ve been hearing good things about Pitt especially with Coach Narduzzi  on board”, said Smith.

It will be interesting to see which defensive end prospect commits to Pitt first.  Pitt is hoping to land a commitment from Zack Gilbert and also just recently offered Virginia DE Patrick Jones.

Right now, Narduzzi has eight commitments for the Class of 2016.