In his own words

MONTEZUMA - A week out of National Signing Day, one of the biggest storylines in the 2015 recruiting cycle, the lingering question of where Roquan Smith will play, is still unanswered.

Speculation, sensationalism, and conjecture have dotted the landscape on this front, but Smith has remained largely silent, allowing Macon County head coach Larry Harold to handle media duties.

The four-star linebacker sat down with UGASports.com on Wednesday afternoon to set the record straight about it all: the potential of holding his letter of intent from his committed school, how that could affect the recruiting landscape moving forward, the idea of being a trendsetter, how coaches are reacting to the news, and even his thoughts on the fairness and overblown nature of the recruiting cycle.

UGASports.com: Can you start off by taking us back through last Wednesday and how that day played out for you? Maybe a timeline of the events.

Smith: "First off, Wednesday morning, I woke up, and I didn't know where I was going to go. Going into Signing Day and when I was getting ready to sign, I still didn't know where I was going to go. My heart was with UGA, but my mind was with UCLA and wanting to experience something different. When I got up there, I just chose UCLA on TV. Then, either place I committed, I wasn't going to sign papers then. I said I wanted to get some time back, think, and see how the decision felt within."

UGASports.com: Reports say that you had everything ready to go and send in, and then it all fell apart. Was that the case?

Smith: "That wasn't the case. Someone came up and told me something about that. They sent it to me, actually. I replied and told them that really wasn't the case. Either place I going to sign, I wasn't going to send the papers in yet. Either way it went, I was going to sit back and think. I said I was going to go to lunch or something and make sure the feeling was good within myself and that I felt comfortable in the decision I made. No papers were signed either way it went. I don't know where they get that from."

UGASports.com: What's it been like since last Wednesday?

Smith: "It gets kind of crazy sometimes, as far as social media, but I haven't really been on it like that. People have actually been telling me more about it, so I know it's been crazy on there. You walk around, see different people, and they're all saying different things."

UGASports.com: People are suggesting you might start a trend if you hold this letter of intent out. Is that your plan?

Smith: Yes, I'm just going to sign the scholarship papers for financial aid."

UGASports.com: Was that the plan in the beginning or was the a decision you came to since last Wednesday?

Smith: "That's something I came to."

UGASports.com: Why? Obviously, there are several reasons why you might choose to do that, but what are your reasons?

Smith: "When you sign a letter-of-intent, it give a school all authority over you. You don't really have any say or anything like that. People say choose the school because of the schools, but coaches shape the school. When people talk like that, that's kind of crazy. If you get a bull at the school, why would you go to a school to have a bull coach you? You have to look at it like that. Say for example, you're at the school for two years and then some butthole coaches come in, they won't be able to hold you there if you're only on scholarship papers. The letter-of-intent gives the school all power over you."

UGASports.com: What do you think about the idea that you could be a trendsetter? Is that something you're wanting to do or is that just a by-product of this?

Smith: "It just happened how it happened. I wasn't looking forward to being anything. I was just doing what I thought was best for me."

UGASports.com: There are some people out there who say this guy is doing this for attention, he wants the spotlight, he wants to drag this process out a little bit longer. What do you have to say to those people?

Smith: "That's their opinion. Most of them who are talking about it have never been in this position, so they don't know what this feels like. They're just talking, and haters are going to hate. Critics are going to talk. I don't know where they get that from, but like I said, haters are going to hate and critics are going to talk."

UGASports.com: The news came out about UCLA later on in the day last Wednesday. Obviously, now, Coach Jeff Ulbrich has made his move to the Atlanta Falcons. How does that shape things? Coach Harold mentioned in the AJC that he was not very happy with how they handled that situation, but how do you feel about how they handled it?"

Smith: "Otherwise, it's a great school and all of this and that, but Coach Ulbrich did say that Coach Dan Quinn (of the Atlanta Falcons) had called him the night before, but he had declined the job offer. I felt like Coach (Jim) Mora should have hit me up and said there's potential that Coach Ulbrich may be leaving. Then, they tried to get me to go ahead and send the papers in, but I wasn't doing it. They tried to get me to send them in at 8 in the morning. Doing a lot of research, which I should have done earlier in the process and thank goodness I had more time, they don't even have my major. I was going to major in business, and the only way to get into business school out there is to be in graduate school."

UGASports.com: I assume that the business degree was something you expressed to them at some point. You probably said 'That's what I want to major in', right?

Smith: "I did."

UGASports.com: And they didn't say you can't do that here?

Smith: "No, they didn't. I guess they were trying to speak as far as the graduate school for business."

UGASports.com: Do you feel mislead?

Smith: "I kind of do. For them to be my first offer, yeah. I thought they were keeping it real with me, but you know people are going to lie."

UGASports.com: How does that shape the rest of this process for you?

Smith: "I'll be signing my scholarship papers probably on Friday."

UGASports.com: Do you know who you're going to sign with?

Smith: "I do. I'm just waiting for Coach Harold to get back either tomorrow or Friday."

UGASports.com: So, you're waiting on him to get back, then you guys are going to make it all official?

Smith: "Yes, I'll get it over with."

UGASports.com: There's a concern that if you sign the scholarship papers but don't sign the letter-of-intent, how committed are you actually going to be to the school that you give this commitment to? That doesn't bind you at that point. How serious are we going to be able to take that commitment when it happens?

Smith: "Once I sign the papers, which is why I never signed papers before, I'm 100-percent committed to that school."

UGASports.com: So, that's it? You're shutting it down?

Smith: "That's it. I'm shutting it down. There are a lot of other schools following me on Twitter and such, but I haven't followed them back. There's no need to talk with them and getting there hopes up when I know I'm not going to go there. I'm not trying to ignore them or be rude or anything."

UGASports.com: When we first spoke last week, there were two schools you were torn between, but then, later in the day, you decided to open it back up to the four. What motivated that decision, when it seemed like you were just down to the two?

Smith: "Just to give them a fair chance. I believe in fair deals."

UGASports.com: What's it been like with those coaching staffs since last Wednesday? I'm sure they've been contacting you.

Smith: "Yeha, but it's like since some type of period just happened where they only get like one call a week now. It's actually not that crazy. You can call them more, though."

UGASports.com: Have you been contacting them then?

Smith: " I talked to them all once a week, then I've probably called like once. I might hit them up on Twitter or something like that."

UGASports.com: Have you talked to all four schools?

Smith: "I have."

UGASports.com: What have those conversations been like? How do these coaches feel about the idea of you signing the scholarship papers but not the letter-of-intent?

Smith: "They actually feel pretty okay about it. You know that if you really wanted somebody, you would let them do that. Most of them are saying that's fine to Coach Harold and that they don't mind."

UGASports.com: UCLA is still in market for a defensive coordinator. Is it a case where that has motivated you to wait a little bit to see who they get in place?

Smith: "Kind of. The main thing is I would have probably done it sometime today or tomorrow, but, whenever coach gets back, that's when I'm going to do it."

UGASports.com: How did you even reach this decision to delay the letter-of-intent? Was it something that you and your family talked about? Was it you and Coach Harold? Was it the group?"

Smith: "Me and my family and Coach Harold."

UGASports.com: So, what about this idea that you could change everything? How does that sit with you?

Smith: "I'm not too big on that. People are coming up saying 'Oh, you changed college recruiting' and stuff like that. At the end of the day, I'm just trying to do what's best for me. People may think that, but I wasn't looking at it that way. I was just trying to do what's best for me and my future."

UGASports.com: Another idea that's been discussed a lot since last Wednesday is that putting you guys on TV and having these ceremonies puts a really undue amount of pressure on you. What do you think about that?

Smith: "Actually, I wasn't going to do it on TV, but they asked me to, so I guess they needed someone to do it. I said I would, and I wanted to bring something back to my community. I wanted to help other kids experience something that they may never experience again or to help them see that anyone can do anything. All thing are possible."

UGASports.com: But do you think it's too much pressure?

Smith: "What type of pressure?"

UGASports.com: Well, when you get a guy in your situation who's wanting to take a little bit of time and then put him on TV and say 'Hey, you've got to do it now.'

Smith: "Kind of, because I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to decide that day, but I wasn't fixing to get up there and be like 'Nah, I'm not gonna do anything.' You had a packed gym, everybody in the community, from board members to principals, coaches, teammates. Everybody was there, so you have to at least give them something."

UGASports.com: Are we (media) blowing all of this up and making it too big of a deal?

Smith: "Some kids may enjoy it. If you're ready to make your decision, I wouldn't knock a kid. Go ahead and make it, if you're ready, on national TV. If you're not though, I'd say that I don't know about them doing it."

UGASports.com: Do you regret doing it on TV?

Smith: "I kind of don't regret it. In a way, it actually helped me see who were my true supporters. I did it for UCLA on TV, then I saw people who I thought were true to me and behind me 100-percent regardless change up some. In a way, I'm kind of happy I seen that. Wherever I go now, I'll know who I really got behind my back."

UGASports.com: What have you been able to discuss with the staffs since last Wednesday? Any new developments?

Smith: "It's been the same thing, and just talking on the phone and expressing how they want me there and how they plan to use me over and over again. You get that concept after a while."

UGASports.com: "So, Friday is going to be the day we'll expect papers. Do you know what time?"

Smith: "I'm not sure what time. As soon as I can. It's probably not going be first thing early in the morning, but it's going to be on Friday."

UGASports.com: Are you going to do something here or are you done with the media hype and attention?

Smith: "I don't care for the hype and all of that. I don't believe in hype. I'm just going to get it done."

UGASports.com: Do you think that this Letter of Intent situation and how that document is used, like you said it gives a lot of, if not most, power to the schools, is an unfair situation?

Smith: "Actually, I do think it's an unfair situation. Think about if a kid comes from New Jersey and goes all the way out to Texas or somewhere and then someone at home gets sick. With the letter of intent, if he's their star player, they may want to keep him there regardless of what else is going on. With the scholarship papers, it's a year in and year out situation, so they just can't hold you in one place. Where I plan to go, I do plan to be for four years, though."

UGASports.com: Yours wasn't the only situation where a coach left right after signing day.

Smith: "Yea, I saw a few other kids who had the same thing."

UGASports.com: Yes. Ohio State has a situation with Mike Weber, where he signed and the running backs coach left, and Cece Jefferson got held up with Florida because their defensive line coach left. Do you think we need to revisit this process and figure out a new way to kind of do it? Do you think the letter of intent is unfair enough that we need to consider a new alternative?

Smith: "It gives the schools a lot of power. It hardly give the student-athlete any power at all. That how I view it. Some kids may view it differently. A lot of kids probably wouldn't be able to do this, also. A school may move on. It's all about how other players look at it. This is just my perspective, and I can just speak for myself. I can't speak for other student-athletes. I'm just speaking for what I know and what I like."

UGASports.com: What's this whole experience been like with media, calling coach all the time, the schools?

Smith: "It's gotten hectic at times, but I didn't want it be like 'Oh, look at that guy and what he's doing' and people hyping me up and things like that. I wish I could just sign and no one know about it until I show up the school, so people aren't all over you. I don't really like that."

UGASports.com: Do you think this whole process is overblown, then?

Smith: "It's kind of overblown in some ways. This is just me, speaking for myself, but I wish I you could just sign somewhere and they didn't know until you get there during the summer. Maybe you sign with the school and the school knows you're signing, but everyone else wouldn't be raving at you. It does get kind of overwhelming, but you've got to be able to hold your own and be yourself."

UGASports.com: Let's talk about the schools and the discussions. First, UCLA. Obviously, they had to do some explaining, I would think?

Smith: 'Yea. I've talked with some of the players and stuff like that, but, in doing my own research, I felt kind of mislead in a few ways, such as the business school."

UGASports.com: How have they explained that?

Smith: "I haven't said anything to them."

UGASports.com: And they haven't said anything? Have they addressed the Coach Ulbrich situation with you?

Smith: "They said, regardless of coach leaving or not, we're still going to be a great school, which it will be. They'll still have a great football program and things like that. I was pretty close with him, and if it wasn't business for me, I could maybe do sports management."

UGASports.com: Did they apologize?

Smith: "They said they were sorry for what I was going through and that they knew it could be kind of hectic at times."

UGASports.com: But they haven't said 'We knew he was leaving, and we didn't tell you'?

Smith: "No. They haven't said that. Coach Ulbrich told me himself on last Tuesday night, I think, that Quinn had called him and he had denied the job."

UGASports.com: Georgia was the other school at the time. What have you heard from Coach Richt and Coach Pruitt and that staff in Athens?

Smith: "They're still showing that they want me and that I can be a vital piece to their program. They've been pretty much keeping it real with me. It's a great school with a good business school, also."

UGASports.com: What did you think of the social media picture that had all of the signees and had a hole where you would be?

Smith: " I did. Someone sent me that. That was pretty neat. It shows that everyone in Athens, as far as coaches, really want me to part of that class."

UGASports.com: Michigan and Texas A&M were the two schools on the outside of all of this last week. Now, they're back in the fold. What have you heard from them? You're close with Coach DJ Durkin and that Michigan staff, and you seemed to enjoy your visit there. What have they said that could benefit them moving into Friday?

Smith: "To be honest with you, I haven't really been talking to schools like that. I talked to Coach Durkin, but I haven't really been talking to schools like that much. It's probably only been once or twice after signing day. They message me, but I haven't been on Twitter very much."

UGASports.com: At the end of all of this on Friday when you make that decision, what do you hope people know about Roquan Smith?

Smith: "To be perfectly honest, I don't really care what they think about me. I know who I am as a person. That's what it all boils back down to. Like I said, haters are going to hate, and critics are going to talk. I'm the person who has to really do this walk. They don't know what I've been through or what I had to go through to get to where I'm at or what you go through in this process. They're just people out there who think they know stuff, and they're just a grown man hiding behind a computer. It really doesn't get to me. I'm actually being a little person by acknowledging it."

UGASports.com: Speaking of grown men hiding behind computers, have you caught some hate on social media?

Smith: "People tell me about it, and they'll screenshot stuff and send it to me. I don't go out there looking for it. I know people are going to talk either way. That's just part of life."

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