On300 S Isaac Smith rolls with Mississippi State

One of Mississippi’s best is off the board as Isaac Smith gave a commitment to Mississippi State on Wednesday.

Smith, the Consensus‘ No. 12-ranked safety in the country out of Fulton (Miss.) Itawamba, opted to stay in-state with the Bulldogs over LSU. The state’s No. 4 player was trending toward Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas A&M and even LSU at different points in his recruitment, but State was a steady presence with Mississippi’s Mr. Football for the 4A class.

One of the more physical safeties in this loaded 2023 crop, Smith was a game-breaker for Itawamba last season. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder piled up 65 tackles with nine interceptions. He packs a punch coming down from his safety spot, too.

Smith contributed in a big way on offense this past season. He accounted for 823 yards and averaged almost 15 YPC at running back with 15 touchdowns. Smith tacked on another 652 yards on 37 catches (17.6 YPC) with three more TD receiving.

Keeping Smith in-state after a bevy of rival SEC schools were out in front with is a massive victory for first-year Mississippi State coach Zach Arnett. Arnett is an Itawamba alum and was quickly elevated to head coach in the wake of the unforeseen and tragic loss of Mike Leach. Leach was previously leading Smith’s recruitment for State and was the first Power 5 coach to offer Smith’s teammate QB Ty Davis.

Arnett was critical is closing strongly with Smith, the No. 189 player in the country, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.