Last winter Soddy-Daisy High School football coach Kevin Orr ordered a Maxx machine for his program, as a way to measure the strength and speed in a lineman’s arms. The state of the art blocking dummy registers how hard and fast a player can strike at the snap of the ball. When Trojans senior Chris Smith tried it, Orr realized the machine had also measured just how quickly the defensive end’s recruiting status would begin to soar.
“It’s a pretty good drill to gauge linemen, and when he punched it his numbers for speed and strength doubled everybody else’s on the team,” Orr said. “I told him, ‘Do that again.’ After he did and the numbers were just as good, we knew we had something special and that we had to make sure he kept coming along in his academics because he’s going to have a lot of interest from college scouts.”
CHRIS SMITHSoddy-DaisyNo. 11Height: 6-5Weight: 297College: Offers from Memphis University and Middle Tennessee State University
Smith had not played since his freshman year because of academic problems. But after a stern lecture from Orr, the 6-foot-5, 297-pound Smith began taking both his workouts and academics more seriously. The results have been promising enough to earn him scholarship offers from Memphis University and Middle Tennessee State University. He has several other schools starting to recruit him heavily as the season nears, and he is the Times Free Press’ 11th-rated player on the annual Dynamite Dozen list of area prospects.