Media Coverage May Cost UCLA Top 50 Linebacker Recruit

Linebacker Roquan Smith, the No. 47 overall recruit in the 247 Composite Rankings, committed to the UCLA Bruins on National Signing Day. Media interviews following the TV ceremony delayed Smith from sending in his paperwork. This gave Georgia coaches an opening to blow up his phone, as reports surfaced that UCLA DC Jeff Ulbrich was heading to the Atlanta Falcons.

Ulbrich was the major reason Smith committed to UCLA. He has now reopened his recruiting.

"“A lot had to do with that we had a long ceremony. I don’t know if you saw all the people. He was taking a lot of pictures, and then he did a bunch of media interviews. It took a while to do all of that, and the UCLA coaches were calling to ask about the paper. At that time, the news was breaking about Coach Ulbrich and the Falcons. We’re holding onto the papers to see what Coach Ulbrich is going to do. We’re mulling over the options.”"

That reopened recruiting should get interesting. UCLA remains in play, and may keep Ulbrich on board.

Smith’s other potential suitors were some heavy hitters. Aforementioned UGA was in his final four. So were Jim Harbaugh and “Michigan University” and Kevin Sumlin’s Texas A&M who just hired defensive maestro John Chavis.