It was while vacationing with his wife that Benny Monroe first realized how hectic recruiting has become.

In 30-plus seasons as one of the area’s most successful high school football coaches, Monroe has gone through the process with dozens of players. But when his cell phone rang in the early morning hours of New Year’s Eve, he got a glimpse of the coming frenzy for himself and Ooltewah’s prize junior prospect Jacques Smith.

Barely awake, Monroe was confused when the University of Georgia assistant on the other end of the phone pleaded for Smith’s cell number.

“They wanted to wish Jacques happy birthday,” Monroe said. “I didn’t even realize it was his birthday. I had no sooner hung up with him when the phone rang again and this time it was a coach from Tennessee wanting the same thing. They both called back just a few minutes later to see if I had found the number yet.

“I was at the beach to relax for New Year’s, but these guys were stressed out that the other would be the first to call him.”

Since 2000, six players from the Chattanooga area have been named high school All-Americans. The 6-foot-3, 238-pound Smith is likely to be the seventh, having already risen to the top of the state’s prospect list according to Rivals.com. Monroe was contacted last week by a representative from the ESPN Under Armour All-American game, notifying him that Smith would be chosen to play in next year’s event.

“The coaches we played against actually spread the word about him after his sophomore season,” Monroe said. “Just from word of mouth, Tennessee was the first to call and eventually offer him (a scholarship). But then last year more teams saw him play and now he’s got about 15 schools calling, from as far away as UCLA.

“I need to get a separate mailbox at school just for the letters he gets every day. I’ve had a lot of big-time prospects, but with all the attention recruiting gets now, I’ve never dealt with anything like this.”

Depending on the scheme his college team uses, Smith is projected to play either defensive end or inside linebacker. Last season he became Ooltewah’s first Mr. Football award winner after making 76 tackles, 28 for loss, and recording 13 sacks and 23 quarterback hurries, helping the Owls reach the Class 5A semifinals.

Smith was a “silent commitment” to former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer last summer and was prepared to go public with his commitment after Ooltewah’s season ended. But when Fulmer was pushed into resigning, Smith reopened the recruiting process and Georgia has now pulled even with the Volunteers.

After watching Georgia’s game against Georgia Tech, Smith met with Bulldogs coach Mark Richt, who invited him to return to the campus for one of the team’s Capital One Bowl practices.

“When I went back, I had a one-on-one meeting with Coach Richt that lasted about two hours,” Smith said. “We traded life stories and I really got to know him as a person. We’ve been building a relationship ever since.”

In a twist of bad timing, new Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin dropped by Ooltewah to visit the day Smith was gone to Georgia’s practice.

“I called him to apologize for missing his visit,” Smith said. “He had called me the first day he got the job and let me know that I would be one of their top priorities next year. He told me I was the first junior he had called after he got the job, and that meant a lot to me.

“Right now Tennessee and Georgia are definitely my favorites because they’re so close to home. It’s going to be tough having to decide between them.”

Smith rounded out his early top-five schools with Wake Forest, North Carolina and Florida. The recruiting process likely won’t drag on long for Smith, an honor-roll student who plans to graduate in December so he can enroll early at whichever school he signs with.

“I’ve told him to make the right choice for him,” Monroe said. “He’s got a lot of people pulling him in different directions.

“I told him you don’t marry the first girl you go out with. He needs to make all his visits and decide where he feels most comfortable, because wherever he goes he’s going to be one heck of a player.”

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