Nebraska secures commitment from Husker legacy, ATH Keelan Smith
Nebraska is not only the family school for Keelan Smith, it’s also the family football program. Smith, from Liberty (Mo.) Liberty North, is the son of former Husker and NFL great Neil Smith, and is going to Lincoln to try and surpass his father’s legacy at Nebraska.
Keelan Smith is a Husker, and the process for him to follow in his father’s footsteps wasn’t easy. Smith was offered by an interim head coach who the new head coach chose not to retain. Matt Rhule and his staff connected with Smith in February, which re-started the process.
“It’s been very crazy and hectic!” Smith said. “There was a lot of changes and emotion. Mickey Joseph offered me, and I was pretty adamant that I was committing to Nebraska and Mickey Joseph because of the coach and recruiter he is.
“The coaches changed out, but it still feels like home. It’s actually kind of better; no shade to the old staff. The new staff is a lot more disciplined, they have been at every level of the game, and I know that they can get me to where I need to be.”
The new staff at Nebraska gets a lot of kudos from recruits. Smith says that the coaching staff was critical to his college decision.
“The coaches are family, and I can relate to the coaches. They are all very relatable. Coach Rhule could be kind of like a dad when I go to college. I was looking at the chemistry that needed to be there between me and the coaching staff when it came to picking out a school, and it was the best at Nebraska.”
Besides the coaching staff and the new facilities at Nebraska, another factor in choosing Nebraska was following in his dad’s footsteps. Neil Smith, who terrorized NFL quarterbacks after his days in Lincoln, pushed Keelan to follow him but wanted him to make his own decision.
“That is part of it, too,” Smith said. “My dad has been pushing me to go to Nebraska this whole time. He told me he wasn’t trying to be biased, and he did want me to decide for myself.
“When I told him I was committing to Nebraska, he said he was all in with it. He’s happy for me. I want to work to surpass my dad’s legacy. That is the ultimate goal, and Nebraska is the best place to do it.”
Smith has his mind made up, but the Nebraska staff is still determining which spot he could play. This is mainly because Smith is still growing, and they want to put him in the best possible place to add value to the team and where he fits best.
“It’s up in the air because I am still growing,” Smith said. “I am 6-foot-3 and about 210 pounds now. They could see me getting to 6-foot-5 and putting some weight on me. Whatever happens, happens. They will try me out at several spots and see where I am better at.”
There were just two offers on Smith’s profile up to his commitment. He said there were other schools that did offer that he wasn’t as confident promoting. After Smith received an offer from those two other schools, there wasn’t much communication.
“I had other offers that I didn’t post,” Smith said. “I had an offer from Iowa and UCLA, but after both of those schools offered, they didn’t communicate much with me. Nebraska and Missouri did it right.
“They communicated with me all of the time. They would check up on me, text my mom, text my dad, call my grandma, and talk to my coach about me. The other schools weren’t doing that as well as Nebraska and Missouri.”
Smith is staying busy this summer. He is participating in track workouts and lifting weights for football. He is also working with a trainer three nights a week.
“I am doing track workouts, but I am not running in meets,” Smith said. “They wouldn’t let me run in meets since I am also doing football workouts. I do the track workouts, and then go to weights before, during, and after school. I also go to my trainer three times a week.”
The next step for Smith is to schedule an official visit. It’s on his agenda of items to work out with the Nebraska staff when he revisits Nebraska next week.
“We are still trying to figure that out,” he said. “I am going back to Nebraska on Monday. We are going to talk about that on Monday.”
