Thursday brought some very welcome news to the Tennessee Vols football program.
“He’s back.”
That was the simple message on the Tennessee Vols football Twitter account early this afternoon, signaling that Trey Smith will be returning for his senior season in 2020. Smith also confirmed the news on his own Twitter account.
The standout offensive lineman had been weighing a return versus leave UT early for the 2020 NFL Draft.
Giddy up 🤠 pic.twitter.com/NAPEVaXlp4
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) January 9, 2020
— Trey Smith (@treysmith) January 9, 2020
The announcement is the next leg of what’s been a trying journey the last couple of years for Smith.
In mid-July of 2018, as the lineman dealt with an unspecified health issue, head coach Jeremy Pruitt confirmed that Smith had been medically cleared, albeit on a limited, non-contact basis, to participate in practice when Tennessee kicked off summer camp the following month. It was subsequently revealed that Smith had been dealing with blood clots in his lungs, although he was cleared in late August of 2018 for full contact.
In October of that year, it was announced that the blood clot issue would sideline Smith indefinitely. He ended up missing the remainder of the 2018 season.
Cleared to return in 2019, however, Smith played the entire year and earned first-team All-SEC honors after starting 11 games at left guard. All told, Smith has started all 32 games in which he’s played at UT.
A consensus five-star 2017 signee, Smith started all 12 games for the Volunteers as a true freshman. In the Nov. 4 win over Southern Miss, Smith became the first true freshman to start at left tackle for UT in more than three decades. Smith, who led the Volunteers in knockdowns with 55, started games at four of the five positions along the offensive line, the lone exception being center.
Based on that debut performance, Smith earned consensus Freshman All-American honors and was named second-team All-SEC.