2021 Countdown to Kickoff: 78 Days (Larry Smith)

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The 2021 Countdown to Kickoff is more than 20% complete…unfortunately, we still have 78 days to go until we get to watch the Indiana Hoosiers battle the Iowa Hawkeyes in Kinnick Stadium. Today, our profile piece focuses on an incoming freshman with a whole lot of potential: Larry Smith.

Name: Larry Smith

Hometown: Orange Park, Florida (Oakleaf)

Position: Safety

Year: Freshman

Height/Weight: 5’10”/170 pounds

One of the biggest reasons for the Indiana Hoosiers rising success on the gridiron can be traced back to Tom Allen’s stop as a high school coach in Tampa, Florida. The IU head coach has used the connections he developed to plant the Hoosier flag in the land of Disney and the increase in Florida products has corresponded with IU’s increased win totals. Hoosier Huddle has dubbed this the “Sunshine Pipeline” and incoming freshman Larry Smith will be another addition from Florida to flock to Bloomington. Smith played for Oakleaf High School in Orange Park and chose IU over offers from Duke, North Carolina, Ole Miss and several others and he’ll be playing safety for Charlton Warren’s defense.

At 5’10” and only 170 pounds, the biggest knock on Smith as a prospect was his size. However, his outstanding athleticism, quickness and instincts were enough to have him rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals and a highly regarded three-star in the 247 Composite Rankings.

Although Larry Smith had never been to Indiana University or Bloomington, he was eager to become a Hoosier, committing just weeks after being offered. “Coach Allen is amazing. It’s really an honor to be able to play for him,” Smith told Sports Illustrated’s Tom Brew in December. Part of the appeal for Smith came from his connection to Devon “Monster” Matthews, a player from Jacksonville that has shined in Brandon Shelby’s secondary.

“Larry Smith is a very, very talented football player,” Tom Allen said of the incoming freshman. “He just has so much instinct to him, and so much ball-making ability. He’s just around that football all the time.” That’s a big deal to Tom Allen as the Hoosiers led the nation in interceptions in 2020 and creating takeaways is one of keys to Allen’s defensive teachings.

IU returns much of their secondary in 2021 and Smith needs to put on some mass before you’d feel good about him in a Big Ten contest so it seems unlikely he’ll see much time this coming season. Make no mistake though, Larry Smith will be counted on in the not too distant future to be one of the next stars in the IU secondary.

The countdown continues with a new profile each and every day so come back to hoosierhuddle.com daily!