Sports
Durham Smythe verbally commits to Texas
Friday, 23 March 2012 by David Tuma
Durham Smythe turned this reception into a touchdown to give the Tigers a 7-3 lead over Harker Heights. Belton went on to win 35-25. Photo by David TumaBelton's Durham Smythe selected Texas by verbally committing to the Longhorns last week. Smythe, considered by many of the top recruiting services as the top junior tight end in the state was offered by Ohio State, Miami, Notre Dame, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska along with multiple schools in the Big 12.
Smythe was a major part of Belton's offense that had five offensive skill position players selected to first team all-district. His work in the weight room and in the offseason has seen him go from a 6-3, 190 sophomore to a 6-6, 230 junior getting ready for his senior season. He has one of the best sets of hands the Tigers have had in the past 15-years.
"To me he is a straight A student with football sense. He anticipates things and reads the defense like a college player. He adjusts his routes by what the safeties are doing without having to be coached to do it. When you run a passing route, the coverage can change and you have to be able to adjust without being told in order to play at that next level. He has gained 20 pounds since November and he has gotten his 40-time to 4.7. The offseason work he has put in has paid off. His father was a successful football player at Baylor and turned that into a very successful career as a doctor at Scott and White Hospital. That kind of tradition has helped Durham," said offensive coordinator David Brewer.
Last season, Durham was a big part of the offense catching 23 passes for 348 yards. He was part of a dual tight end formation the Tigers unleashed in the Midway blowout. His blocking graded out above 80 percent in each game last year and that was part of Donovan Williams gaining over 1,300 yards on the ground last season.
The final two teams on Smythe's list were Stanford and Texas. It came down to those two schools in the end. "It was a hard choice, harder than I thought it would be. The creativity of our offense has been a big plus for me. We are flexible and how we are coached has a big part of the number of games we won last year (8-2).
"We are well pre-pared before each game and it changes from game-to-game based on what that team can do on defense," said Durham.
"There were games last fall where Durhman didn't catch a ball and he never complained. He is a team player. With Durham the team comes first. He put in the extra effort in the offseason and he was a big part of Williams rushing for over 1,300 yards last year. Durham opened up so many parts of our game plan on offense last season," said Brewer. "He has the best set of hands I have had in 25-years of coaching."
