Duke Defensive Lineman Gary Smith III Follows Teammates, Coach to UCLA Football

Smith's commitment puts him in line to follow tight ends coach Jeff Faris and receiver Jake Bobo to Westwood.

The Blue Devil to Bruin pipeline added another member this weekend.

Duke transfer defensive lineman Gary Smith III committed to UCLA football on Saturday, he announced on Twitter. Smith has as many as three years of eligibility remaining after suiting up for the Blue Devils the past two years.

The Bruins sent Smith an offer on Dec. 22 and were competing with Virginia, TCU, Minnesota and Virginia Tech for his services.

Smith is the second Duke player to make the move to UCLA so far this offseason, joining receiver Jake Bobo, who committed on Dec. 14. Quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Jeff Faris has also joined the Bruins as their next tight ends coach, signing on Jan. 19. Running back Brittain Brown may be preparing for a possible shot at the NFL this offseason, unable to return to UCLA for another year, but he transferred in from Duke in 2020.

Smith's decision was accompanied by the signature "BOOM" tweet from director of player personnel Ethan Young that signifies a new verbal commitment. Young's tweet came a minute after Smith's tweet this time, though, a departure from his teases typically preceding players' announcements.

After playing in 10 games as a true freshman in 2020, Smith returned in 2021 to rack up 24 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack and one pass deflection as a sophomore.

The 6-foot-2, 320-pound defensive tackle is from Shelbyville, Tennessee, and was a consensus top-100 interior lineman coming out of high school. The 247Sports Composite, ESPN and Rivals all had Smith as a three-star recruit.

Austin Peay, Chattanooga, Florida State, Georgia State, Kent State, Kentucky, Middle Tennessee State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Troy, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Western Kentucky were the schools pursuing Smith at the time, and Tennessee kicked the tires of bringing him in too.

Smith committed to Duke and signed in 2019, but less than two years later, coach David Cutliffe was booted from the program. After he was fired for going 5-18 across his 13th and 14th seasons leading the Blue Devils, several players immediately hopped into the transfer portal, including Bobo and Smith.

By the time Duke hired Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko to be the next head coach, Smith had already been in the portal for a week and reeled in FBS eight offers. It wasn't along before the Bruins made contact and officially invited him to join the program, and he made good on that offer a month later.

UCLA has had four defensive linemen of their own enter the transfer portal – Tiaoalii Savea, AJ Campbell, Tyler Kiehne and John Ward – but have offset those losses by bringing in Smith and Harvard grad transfer Jacob Sykes. Otito Ogbonnia left early for the 2022 NFL Draft and Datona Jackson ran out of eligibility this past fall, so there is plenty of production and snaps that will need to be replaced at the top of the depth chart.

Smith and Sykes will compete for reps with returning super seniors Martin Andrus Jr., Tyler Manoa and Odua Isibor and underclassmen Jay Toia and Quintin Somerville.

The position group will have a new man in charge, with Johnny Nansen leaving to become the next defensive coordinator at Arizona and Chad Kuaha'aha'a coming in from UNLV to replace him.

Catch up on all the transfer market news related to UCLA at All Bruins' transfer portal tracker.

Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @SI_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @SI.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube

Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA football stories: UCLA Football on Sports Illustrated