You’ve got to feel for the kid.
Seemingly moments after Montezuma, Ga., four-star linebacker Roquan Smith put on those blue-and-gold gloves and declared for UCLA, the blue-and-gold rug was pulled right out from under him when reports of Bruins defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich taking a job with the Atlanta Falcons began to surface.
Ulbrich’s status is still in limbo and, as a result, so is Smith.
Macon County High School head coach Larry Harold told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Smith will take “about a week” to decide his destination.
“It’s not an open recruitment really, it’s just the same four schools and he’s going to take a week or so to decide,” Harold told the paper. “He’s going to take this weekend off, spend time with his family and relax, be a teen-ager. And then next week maybe he’ll start calling some coaches again and rehash it all.”
Though National Signing Day has the nice branding campaign, there’s no finality to the pseudo-holiday at all.
“(The recruiting period) isn’t over until the end of April, so there’s no rush,” Harold explained. “You know, it is a big decision and he needs to take his time, especially in lieu of what happened with the coach at UCLA leaving. So there’s a lot for him to consider. These things happen. But he needs to do what’s best for him and his family just like Coach Ulbrich did what’s best for him and his family. Everybody needs to do what’s best for their situation.”
Harold believes Ulbrich will ultimately take the Falcons job, saying the Bruins’ play-caller toured the Falcons’ Flowery Branch, Ga., facilities on Thursday. With that in mind, Smith will re-consider all four of his original finalists - Georgia, Michigan and Texas A&M in addition to UCLA.
