Rising 2024 OLB Tyanthony Smith dives into early offers, interests

JASPER, Texas — Jasper (Texas) 2024 outside linebacker Tyanthony Smith is nursing a minor injury to start the season, but the athletic defensive prospect is looking forward to returning to the field in the coming weeks to lead his young team.

For Smith, it's an opportunity to learn alongside a young team with a lot of potential in Southeast Texas.

"I'm very excited," Smith said. "We got some guys coming back that are young that will play. With us on defense, it just gets me hype to come back with some young guys."

Over the summer, Smith saw a big recruiting rise by picking up offers from Texas, TCU, LSU, Boston College and Auburn as he saw the camp circuit as a big proving opportunity for him.

"Me going to camps, especially," he said on what helped him improve. "I've been working on my craft and they taught me a couple of covering drills and everything else. I feel like those camps really helped me out a lot with that. The thing I've been focusing on the most is pass coverage. In 4A, we don't do too many pass coverages, so I go to camps and try to work on that. That's been my main thing."

Of his early offers, Baylor and Texas Tech are the programs that have built the strongest relationships with Smith early on.

At Baylor, quality control analyst Alex Osborne has been a key part of the Bears' early standing with Smith.

"I like how they approached me and my family, they were really sincere," he said. "Before they offered, it was a real process. That was the important thing. I've been up there like four times and they make me feel like family every time I go. Me and Coach Osborne, we've been locked in."

Between James Blanchard's pursuit of Southeast Texas talent and the feel Smith gets from Joey McGuire, Texas Tech has made a big early impact with the athletic defender.

"It's real loyalty at Tech," he said. "They're looking at some real dawgs in our area and putting our area code on the map here in the 409. That's been really great. I also like the head coach there, Coach McGuire. I like his swag and everything."

Of his other offers, Smith says that Texas, LSU and TCU stand out with the latter being a dream school of his since he was a child.

"TCU is really standing out to me, that's been my dream school since I was growing up," he said. "They're really sincere with me."

At Texas, Smith is encouraged by what the Longhorns are putting together in the 2023 class.

"I really like Texas and their recruiting class, what they've been doing," he said. "I feel like Coach Sark is on the rise and I could see myself as a part of their defense helping them win a couple of games."

At LSU, a former linebacker for the Tigers that Smith grew up idolizing has Brian Kelly's crew in the mix.

"That's been the team, everybody here likes LSU," he said. "It's SEC. They had a really good linebacker, Damone Clark, that I grew up watching as a kid. I feel like I fit his play style a little bit, so it's why I like LSU."

As for schools that have not offered, Alabama and Ole Miss are two programs that interest Smith.

"Alabama, I've talked with Nick Saban and he said he's very interested. Plus, it's Alabama. Ole Miss is a really good school too."

Amid all of the recruiting attention coming in this fall, Smith is also working to accomplish a pair of goals on the field.

"Goal-wise, I want 120 tackles," he said. "I feel like last year with 99 tackles, it wasn't enough. I also want to be more vocal on defense. Last year I was still young, so this year I want to be more vocal."

At 6-foot-1, 201 pounds, Smith is the No. 22 ranked outside linebacker in the country for the class of 2024, according to Rivals.