Interview With Husker Football Recruiting Target Georgia ATH Sutton Smith!

I decided to branch out from just doing articles whenever a kid commits to Nebraska, I am now interviewing commits, potential commits, prospects & any players considering the Nebraska Cornhuskers!

Today I interviewed Sutton Smith, an athlete at McEachern High in Powder Springs, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. We spoke about a myriad of things, including his relationship with Coach Frost and when we can expect a decision. Enjoy!

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Akelo: Alright Sutton, so what’s going on today, man? First off, how are you doing?

Sutton: “I’m doing good man, thanks for asking. How are you doing?”

I’m doing great. I bet you’re feeling good man! You balling on the field, getting these offers man, how does it feel?

“I just feel blessed man, you know? I just praise God and thank Him for everything.”

Real talk man. Jesus is the reason for the season, so I can definitely agree with that man. So first off, what high school do you go to bro?

I go to McEachern High in Powder Springs.

Oh okay! I have family in Marietta, which is right down the road, so I know the area. (laughs) So I want to touch on your childhood real quick. At what age did you start playing football?

I started playing football at age 7. Just playing park ball, playing for the team at my local park.

Okay, so at that age did you know you were gonna be a star?

I kinda did, yes sir. It’s funny the way I started playing. I didn’t want to play but my brother played & he had practice. I didn’t wanna go, my dad made me go, so I just up & went. He was practicing, and the younger team, they didn’t have a lot of players so they let anybody join their workouts. They were just doing little kid stuff, nothing too heavy. So I went over there & started running around. I kept practicing, suited up, and in our first scrimmage I scored 5 touchdowns.

Oh okay, so you were on some Cody Paul stuff from a youngin?

(laughs) Yeah, yeah I was.

Oh okay, so let’s fast forward a bit. Like you said, you were balling in the youth league, and now you’re headed to high school. You go to McEachern, and you play JV your first year right?

Yes sir. Well actually, I played JV the first half, then after that, if you’re good you can scrimmage with the varsity team if you’re good. In my first scrimmage with the varsity, I ended up scoring a 70 yard touchdown against East Paulding.

Okay, that’s what’s up man. So sophomore year rolls around, and how does it go?

Sophomore year, yeah. Spring game, I went for an 80 yard touchdown. I did some good stuff as a sophomore but I was still young. Quarantine was a blessing, man. I put so much work in, and it showed on my junior film.

Okay, so junior year, 2020, that’s when things kick off, that’s when you start going crazy. I’m looking at your film. and you look like Laviska Shenault times 2 bro. So I’m looking at your highlights, I’m looking at you scoring everywhere, in exotic ways, just going off on everyone, and the offers pour in. You got your first offer after your junior year, right?

Nah, nah, I actually got my first offer my sophomore year. I broke off that 80 yard touchdown, and Pittsburgh offered me. I also got Florida Atlantic that year too, but my junior year is when they really started rolling in, yeah.

Ok, now your junior year was your breakout year, do you know your stats from that year?

I honestly don’t really remember my stats. As far as touchdowns, I know I scored more than 5.

Now, you know I write about Nebraska football. When exactly did you get your Nebraska offer & what was going through your mind when it came?

I got my offer on March 14th. To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting that one, that was crazy. Coach Fish is a real cool dude. I just need to come up there in the summer & get a feel for everything.

Yeah, yeah! Now I understand, on Rivals & 247 they have you listed as an all-purpose back, but I read supposedly that Nebraska is recruiting you as a DB?

Yeah yeah, on Rivals I’m actually listed as an athlete. They see me playing DB out there, for sure. And I actually spoke to Coach Frost yesterday, they also see me helping out in the return game a lot.

Yeah, you can definitely help out in that aspect. So, like, have you played DB in high school?

Yeah, if you watch my whole film you can see me playing DB.

Oh my bad, I was just focused on you scoring touchdowns, I didn’t see the whole thing.

(laughs) Yeah man, you gotta watch the whole thing. Towards the end I play DB.

(laughs) Now are you open to that? Do you like playing DB?

Yeah, yeah, I’m open to that. I’ll do anything to help the team, I just have to get more comfortable at it.

That’s what’s up man. Now, besides Nebraska, what other schools are you considering right now?

Right now, I’m considering Pitt, I like Pitt. Memphis, App State.

That’s what’s up. Now let’s get to the testing numbers. What is your height, weight, 40 time, vertical, all that?

Right now, I’m 5’11 175. It’s crazy, I would’ve went to the camp to get the other numbers, but I was at a track meet & I sprained my hamstring. Then everything got shut down due to corona.

As far as my 40, I know I can easily pull off a 4.4. My start is good, I just have to work on my top end.

Now you run track, what races do you run & what is your PR?

I run the 100 & the 4x100, my personal best in the 100 meter dash is 11.1. It was my first year running.

That’s decent! Especially for your 1st year running. Now, when can the fans expect you to make a decision?

I’m gonna make a decision real, real soon. The best decision for right now, because I got a lot of time. You can’t miss out when making such a big decision.

That’s what’s up. Now besides Nebraska, what other schools are you looking into visiting?

Yeah. Memphis, Nebraska for sure, Appalachian State, that’s about it.

Okay, that’s great. Now, under Coach Frost, we’ve been recruiting the Atlanta metro area a lot. We’ve gotten Myles Farmer from Westlake, Caleb Tannor from Miller Grove, Quinton Newsome from North Gwinnett.

Yeah yeah, I know a lot of kids from the area that went up there for school. I was just talking to Myles the other day, you’ve also gotten some kids from Buford too.

Myles is a good player, he should play a lot this year, I almost forgot about the Buford kids wow, Gabe Ervin & Malik Williams. (laughs) Now besides that, what are your goals for this season?

1,000 yards, at least 10 touchdowns. I need about 4-5 picks, and of course, be more of a leader, for my team & school.

Now, besides yourself, what other players does McEachern have for the class of 2022 that should be Power 5 prospects?

Bryce Archie, our quarterback, definitely, we also have a receiver, Kaleb Webb.

Last year, we had a linebacker go to Stanford. My sophomore year actually, we had a D1 prospect at every position. We had a receiver go to Alabama, we had a receiver go to Clemson, a quarterback that went to Florida, a DB that went to Kansas State, a running back that went to Michigan State, a defensive tackle that went to Alabama, another DB that went to Kent State, and another DB that went to Air Force.

Wow, so you guys were loaded! McEachern is a school that Nebraska needs to stay at!

For sure, yes sir.

That’s what’s up man, So hey Sutton, I wanna thank you so much for the time, for just getting on the phone & doing this interview with me.

Yeah man, it was good talking to you bro.

Alright, I appreciate it man. Be easy.

Big thank you to Sutton for giving me the interview! You guys can follow him on Twitter at @sutton5_ and on Instagram at @1sutton !