Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2026 77 2026 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY KYLE KELLY C haz Smith's senior season began with a bang. After spending the previous three years at three different schools in the Volunteer State, Smith finally found a home at Knoxville (Tenn.) Catholic. Al- most immediately, he became a house- hold name among opposing coaching staffs. Smith — who is a four-star recruit and the No. 8 player in Tennessee ac- cording to Rivals — made his presence felt right away in Week 1. He intercepted two passes, helping Catholic secure a tone-setting 20-6 win over Murfrees- boro (Tenn.) Riverdale Aug. 22. Forget delayed gratification. Smith earned his reputation instantly, a de- velopment that proved both beneficial and limiting. "The number one thing that came to my mind is, so much for anybody throwing at him the rest of the year," Knoxville Catholic coach Phil Shadow- ens told Blue & Gold Illustrated when reflecting on Smith's debut. Shadowens was right. Even before taking the field for Cath- olic, Smith was difficult to overlook. He was a Notre Dame commit and, accord- ing to Rivals, the No. 25 cornerback and No. 184 overall player nationally in the 2026 class. After Week 1, however, he was impossible to disguise. According to Shadowens, teams rarely threw at Smith for the remainder of the season. While that limited his statistical opportunities, it reshaped his approach rather than challenged it. "He was just 100 percent obsessed with winning games," Shadowens said. "He was driven to do whatever he could to help our team win." With a shutdown corner like Smith locking down one side of the field — and another future standout in Xavier Bowman, Rivals' No. 3 cornerback in the 2028 class, on the other — Knoxville Catholic posted just its second season of six wins or more in the past six years. The run ended in the quarterfinals of the Tennessee Division II, Class AAA playoffs, where the Irish ran into a buzzsaw in Chattanooga (Tenn.) Baylor School, led by David Gabriel Georges, Rivals' No. 2 running back in the 2027 class. Less than three weeks later, Smith turned the page. On Dec. 3, he made his Notre Dame commitment official, signing with the program he had pledged to nearly a year earlier. Smith initially committed to the Irish after just one campus visit during November of his junior year. The tim- ing prompted external skepticism, but never internal doubt. Smith's college decision came with clarity. "I talked to his family about it, and when that offer came about and the op- portunity to commit, they just knew that's where they wanted to be," Shad- owens told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "A lot of it had to do with the coaching staff. They loved Coach [Marcus] Freeman and didn't think it was going to get any better. "There was no place they would rather be than Notre Dame, no matter who else offered." ✦ Chaz Smith Was Impossible To Ignore CHAZ SMITH CORNERBACK 6-1 · 163 KNOXVILLE CATHOLIC H.S. KNOXVILLE, TENN. RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE Industry ✪✪✪✪ 284 33 11 ✪✪✪✪ 184 25 8 ✪✪✪✪ — 33 8 ✪✪✪ — 51 25 STATISTICS • Notched 33 tackles (31 solo), 8 passes broken up and 2 interceptions in his 11-game senior sea- son in 2025, and helped Catholic Went reach the second round of the Division II, Class AAA playoffs. • A leg injury limited him to four games at Chat- tanooga (Tenn.) McCallie School as a junior. He finished the season with 5 tackles, 1 interception and 2 passes broken up. NOTABLE • Was a Tennessee Division II, Class AAA all-state selection in 2025. • Named to the Five-Star Prep Underclassman All-State team in 2024. • Started his high school career at Knoxville (Tenn.) Webb School before transferring to Knox- ville (Tenn.) Bearden for his sophomore year. He spent his junior season at Chattanooga (Tenn.) McCallie and capped off his senior year at Knoxville (Tenn.) Catholic. RECRUITMENT • Committed to the Fighting Irish on Dec. 1, 2024. • Enrolled at Notre Dame in January. • Chose the Irish over Clemson, Michigan, Ne- braska, South Carolina and Texas A&M. • Recruited by former Irish defensive backs coach Mike Mickens. • Visited Notre Dame four times, including his official visit on June 13, 2025. 2026 PROJECTION • Smith is best suited for a redshirt season. THEY SAID IT Blue & Gold Illustrated beat reporter Tyler James: "Smith can turn and run with a receiver in an instant. He does an excellent job of accelerating when necessary, and he can keep on his coverage line when doing so. He has a good sense of when he needs to switch out of his backpedal. "Smith has a good command of his body when the ball is in the air. He might not make as many in- terceptions as you'd like, but he does a good job of making it hard for a receiver to make a catch while not making unnecessary contact with the receiver. His length allows him to take advantage of that. "Smith recognizes screens well and will make sure he plays a role in shutting them down. He closes on the pass catcher quickly and often takes him down before much forward momentum gets created." Smith capped off his career at Knoxville (Tenn.) Catholic after having spent the previous three years at three different high schools. PHOTO BY CHAD SIMMONS/RIVALS