THE LATEST: 5-Star QB Brady Smigiel Gearing up for Visits

One of the top quarterbacks in the country gives the latest in his recruitment.

Newbury Park (Calif.) quarterback Brady Smigiel is one of the biggest names in the 2026 class. The 247Sports Composite has him rated as a five-star recruit and the No. 2 quarterback in the country.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound passer landed a pair of big-time offers from Miami and UCLA this week and spoke with Ducks Digest about where he's at in his recruitment.

Pure Dimeage ⁦@BradySmigiel⁩ ⁦@QBCollective⁩ pic.twitter.com/aGQIPPkQB2

— Danny Hernandez (@CoachDanny10) January 17, 2024

"I'm going to be paying as patient as I need to be," Smigiel said. "This January and February will be big because that's when coaches are allowed to come out and see me. You could do a lot just over the phone and texting me or whatever, but we'll really see how much you're interested in me if you come and see me throw this January."

Smigiel is a well-traveled recruit despite his youth and has been able to visit the likes of Oregon, USC, Florida State, LSU, Ole Miss, Arizona and Georgia. He has a pair of visits planned for this month and is set to visit Notre Dame the weekend of January 19 and Oregon the following weekend on January 27 for the Ducks' Junior Day.

"That's just planned right now," he said. "Those are the schools that have been on me and those are the schools that I'm interested in now that I haven't been to in a while or haven't been to at all. I think it's gonna pick up after January when I meet new coaches and build new relationships, but as of now those are the only two schools I'm going to."

The gifted quarterback visited Oregon when Kenny Dillingham was heading up the offense but still has strong interest in the Ducks.

"Oregon is awesome right now," he said. "They're starting to get hot with coach Dan Lanning, which is awesome to see because my great grandmother who just passed away went there and she's always loved Oregon.

"So to see Oregon start picking up speed again is really cool. I've always been a huge Pac-12 guy. And I just love Bo Nix on and off the field, the way he carries himself I think is really special and I think Coach (Will) Sein and Coach (Jordan) Salkin had a huge of that."

Notre Dame is coming off a 10-win season and this weekend's trip will be Smigiel's first to South Bend.

"I think it's really cool that they're very high on education. I think that's very cool. And I'm bringing up relationships again. Coach Gino (Guidugli) came out and their head recruiting coordinator just came out, so that was really nice. And I love both of them. So I just kind of just want to go visit the schools where I have the best relationships with coaches and right now that's Oregon and Notre Dame."

As his recruitment continues to heat up and draw more attention at the national level, Smigiel laid out what's important to him as a college prospect.

"I'm huge on relationships. I know that being a quarterback, it's the quarterback coach, the head coach, the offensive coordinator and the strength and conditioning coach are the guys that you're hanging around the most. So just building connections with those guys. 

"You just see coaches moving around all the place so it's not as much I mean--- obviously the university and the facilities, that's always awesome and the education. But the biggest thing for me is relationships."

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