Zach Smith will visit Kansas for Junior Day

With the dead period over, the Kansas coaches will hold their first junior day of the spring football season. One of the visitors making the trip will be tight end Zach Smith.

Smith, who plays at Thunderridge High in Colorado, is expected to arrive in Lawrence today.

“I'm excited for all of it, really,” Smith said. “Get to see campus, meet all the coaches in person, see the practice too and see what it's like out there. I'm excited for it all.”

Smith started his high school career as an offensive tackle but made the transition to tight end.

“My freshman year I played tackle and I was much faster than all of the other linemen, I guess,” Smith said. “I had good hands, so they were like, ‘let's throw this guy the ball,’ so they moved me to tight end. I had a heck of a time. It was fun for sure. I like it much better than o-line.

“I like blocking people. I like hitting people. That's my favorite part of football, but I do like catching the ball and scoring touchdowns for sure. Just the combination of both really made tight end my favorite position in football because you're so versatile. You get to do so much.”

Kansas offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Andy Kotelnicki has been recruiting Smith. They connected early in their talks and things progressed from there.

“Coach Kotelnicki was the first one to reach out from Kansas to me, and just really cool guy,” Smith said. “He had asked me about me playing basketball, and he was cool and just was talkative and just really nice. And so, he just sent me stuff about Kansas, told me about the program, how much they use tight ends, and how great of an offense and a powerhouse they are for sure.”

Smith watched the Jayhawks play last season and noticed the creative ways Kotelnicki gets his tight ends involved in the offense.

“I watched a lot last season,” he said. “That offense was crazy. They were just killing everybody, running, throwing, very versatile offense, can do both really well.”

He got a good compliment from Kotelnicki after they evaluated his film.

“They said how aggressive of a blocker I was, initiate hitting, making the first hit and just hitting strong,” Smith said. “They just said I play football the way it should be played. It was really encouraging, so it was really cool to hear that from them.”

Smith has been getting a lot of interest from schools in the Big 12 and Pac 12. He is also hearing from Miami (Ohio), Wyoming, Ohio and Air Force.

“I want to get a good education, make sure to graduate and all that,” he said. “I want to find a place that feels like home for sure, where it's close to my parents. Which Kansas is perfect since it is an eight-hour drive from Colorado, it's not bad at all.”