Newcomer Profile: Why Oklahoma DE Nigel Smith's Goal to 'Fit in as Quick as Possible' is So Realistic in 2024

The Sooners' incoming defensive line class is supremely talented, but they're "just teenagers," Smith says, and they'll need time to grow into everyone's expectations.

Nigel Smith / Nigel Smith via Twitter/X

NORMAN — Nigel Smith is a realist.

As a freshman on the Oklahoma defensive line, he carries no illusion of immediate stardom for himself or his fellow first-years. 

“If you went into college thinking you were gonna be still the best player on the field as a 17- or 18-year-old, then you got a lot to learn,” Smith said in March. “Because there’s guys that have been here three, four, five, six, seven years. And so they’ve seen the game, they’ve been through the workouts. 

“They’re grown men compared to us. We’re basically just teenagers. … I came here to learn from those guys.”

Smith is a promising 4-star prospect who was among seven mid-term enrollees that joined the team in December and started practicing with the Sooners before the Alamo Bowl.

They’ve since taken up residence in OU's House of Schmitty — that’s the torture chamber where strength coach Jerry Schmidt molds boys into men — and are currently studying the Book of Venables.

“My goal to fit in as quick as possible, learn these plays and see how I do throughout spring ball,” Smith said at spring media day. “ … Emphasis on getting these plays down, because coach (Brent) Venables’ playbook is no joke.

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“So I have no high expectations to say I’m gonna go in and start. My goal is just to adjust as quick as possible and learn from these guys.”

At 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds, Smith is a ready-made college football player. A consensus 4-star prospect just across the Red River at Melissa, TX, Smith was the No. 96 prospect in the country, according to ESPN, and ranked No. 99 by Rivals and No. 142 by 247 Sports. 

His dad, Nigel Sr., was a 6-10, 275-pound center on the SMU basketball team from 1998-2003. Nigel Jr. also played basketball at Melissa, so the Sooners are getting a fearsome physical presence on on the edge, but one who understands spacing and angles.

Smith is one of the prizes of Oklahoma’s best defensive line class in a generation, and one of the best in the nation this year. 

“I really love the defensive line,” Venables said in December, “and we've talked about that as being something where everything starts up front, as the saying goes. And that couldn't be more appropriate here with our own David Stone here from the state of Oklahoma via IMG (Academy). And then Nigel Smith, Danny Okoye, Jayden Jackson and Wyatt Gilmore. … We've got length, size and power.”

They’ve also got a bunch of freshmen. It’s hard not to try to project the future, but it’s also easy to forget this supremely talented group of defensive linemen are, as Smith puts it, just “teenagers.”

WATCH: Nigel Smith interview

“I really think this is obviously a great d-line that we’ve recruited,” Smith said. “They really surprised me in winter workouts and how athletic they are. Danny’s a freak. Wyatt, he’s crazy strong already — like, I don’t know how he moves, but if he moves anything like his strength, it’s ridiculous. David was dominating these winter workouts. So in a couple of years, this is really gonna be a crazy d-line.”

Can Sooner Nation wait that long? There’s little doubt Smith and Stone and Okoye will get a chance to make plays in 2024, but check back in 2026 and see how big, strong, athletic — how complete they’ll be as football players — and there’s really no comparison. Just look at Ethan Downs and R Mason Thomas, who played extensively as freshmen — mostly because they had to. Now Downs is a senior and Thomas is a junior, and although coaches don’t need to see too much from them this spring, those are the starters come fall who will set an example for the class of 2024.

Perhaps the truly amazing part is that Smith already seems to embrace this line of thinking.

He’s getting a lot of reps this spring, but how much does Smith expect to play in the fall?

“That’s up to the coaches,” he said. “What gets anybody on the field is proving that you know what you’re doing. We actually went over this with Coach (Miguel) Chavis today. If you want to play, you have to show that you’re straining, everything you do. You have to be tough. And you have to know what you’re doing. 

“So I have to know the playbook. Emphasis on that. I have to show that I’m tough and straining in everything I do and just prove I can play on those first and second downs, and if you prove you can play on those first and second downs, you’re gonna play on third downs as well. So just try to dominate the day and learn from ED and R Mason as much as possible.”

Those practices in December leading up to the Alamo Bowl set the standard. Smith said Schmidt’s infamous winter workouts were eye-opening. Now, so far, spring practice has been an educational experience for Smith and the rest of the OU freshmen. 

“I don’t feel any expectation,” Smith said. “I’m just here trying to get as good as I can and grind out this spring ball, see where I stand at the end of spring ball and throughout that spring game — whether I get three reps or whether I get 25 reps. It’s all up to how I do and what I prove to the coaches. So I feel no expectations. 

“Everybody grows at a certain level. Whether I don’t play my freshman year and I end up playing my sophomore and junior year a lot, or start playing early, it doesn’t matter. I’m just here for the journey.”