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Los Gatos LB Kyle Smith Keeps the Bears Rolling With His Commitment to Cal

July 28, 2018
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6-3/220 Los Gatos High School middle linebacker tackling machine Kyle Smith became the 17th member of the Bears' 2019 recruiting class with his commitment to Cal in Berkeley today."

"I felt really good about it," said Smith of his decision to commit today. "I'd been thinking about it for a few weeks but I wanted to make sure it was the best decision for me and today, I felt it was."

That comfort level largely derived from a few main sources.

"The way I connected with the coaches and the amazing academics as well as football program," said Smith of what made Cal the right choice for him.

Smith announced his commitment via twitter, saying: "I'd like to thank all the coaches who have recruited me up to this point, but I've made my decision to commit to THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY!!! GO BEARS!!!

As a junior, Smith was a one man wrecking machine for Los Gatos, compiling an amazing 193 tackles, seven tackles for loss, eight quarterback hurries, an interception and a fumble caused on defense. On offensive, Smith averaged 8.8 yards per carry with 10 touchdowns as a bruising running back for the Wildcats.

The Bears beat out Oregon and Nebraska among others for Smith's services.

Discussion from...

Los Gatos LB Kyle Smith Keeps the Bears Rolling With His Commitment to Cal

19,448 Views | 20 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by OdontoBear66
Seogju
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12:00a, 7/29/18
Excellent. Welcome to Berkeley. Go Bears!
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GivemTheAxe
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In reply to Seogju • 12:33a, 7/29/18
Seogju said:
Excellent. Welcome to Berkeley. Go Bears!

All I can say about Kyle is "wow!"
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UCBerkGrad
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10:13a, 7/29/18
Offers from Oregon, Nebraska and Yale......looks like a great local pick-up!
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bonsallbear
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12:38p, 7/29/18
Looks like he's playing against Munchkins.
Let's get some fast wide outs now. He does hit hard!
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chazzed
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1:27p, 7/29/18
Excellent... welcome to Cal!
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XXXBEAR
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1:49p, 7/29/18
He has a football look about him....greatbtackler/playmaker, bruising RB, and obviously great student. Love that good local,players are thinking of Cal first, as the word spreads about this upcoming season, Wilcox and his staff.

We will be called "linebacker U " for real pretty soon...
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Bear19
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In reply to bonsallbear • 2:08p, 7/29/18
bonsallbear said:
Looks like he's playing against Munchkins.
He is. This is the main reason highlight clips cannot be trusted - many teams that Los Gatos HS plays are flat out terrible.

Doesn't take away from what Kyle's accomplished or his potential at Cal; D1 coaches know how to look for key indicators when evaluating players, including lots of tape not included in the highlight clips.
Bear 19
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MoragaBear
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2:22p, 7/29/18
Staff
Against their best comp -Corona Del Mar, Milpitas, Salinas and Menlo Atherton- Smith had 14, 13, 16 and 16 tackles and they aren't little teams at all. They're good teams, too, with a combined 42-11 record.
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cal93
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3:06p, 7/29/18
If he lives up to the #45 in the pictures, then I will be more than happy!
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Bisonbob
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3:45p, 7/29/18
Looks quick and has the perfect size! Hope he has the attitude of a Jack Lambert!!!
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calumnus
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In reply to XXXBEAR • 5:05p, 7/29/18
XXXBEAR said:
He has a football look about him....greatbtackler/playmaker, bruising RB, and obviously great student. Love that good local,players are thinking of Cal first, as the word spreads about this upcoming season, Wilcox and his staff.

We will be called "linebacker U " for real pretty soon...

Is that 5 in the class already? Looks like another great pick-up. Good news for the defense and kick coverage.

Welcome Kyle! Go Bears!
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71Bear
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In reply to Bear19 • 5:51p, 7/29/18
Bear19 said:
bonsallbear said:
Looks like he's playing against Munchkins.
He is. This is the main reason highlight clips cannot be trusted - many teams that Los Gatos HS plays are flat out terrible.

Doesn't take away from what kyle's accomplished or his potential at Cal; D1 coaches know how to look for key indicators when evaluating players, including lots of tape not included in the highlight clips.
re: highlight clips...

IMO, the most "infamous" was Lynch's. It included a number of huge runs v. sad sack Castlemont. After that, I put little stock in HS highlights unless I knew the opponent.....
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bonsallbear
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In reply to MoragaBear • 8:07p, 7/29/18
MoragaBear said:
Against their best comp -Corona Del Mar, Milpitas, Salinas and Menlo Atherton- Smith had 14, 13, 16 and 16 tackles and they aren't little teams at all. They're good teams, too, with a combined 42-11 record.
To be clear, I wasnt suggesting he's not legitimate. He's got good instincts hits hard and straight on and is a sure tackler. Happy to have him.
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Bear19
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In reply to MoragaBear • 12:41a, 7/30/18
MoragaBear said:
Against their best comp -Corona Del Mar, Milpitas, Salinas and Menlo Atherton- Smith had 14, 13, 16 and 16 tackles and they aren't little teams at all. They're good teams, too, with a combined 42-11 record.
Corona Del Mar & Milpitas are definitely legit. Salinas is average at best, Menlo Atherton not very good.
Bear 19
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MoragaBear
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In reply to Bear19 • 2:31a, 7/30/18
Staff
Bear19 said:
MoragaBear said:
Against their best comp -Corona Del Mar, Milpitas, Salinas and Menlo Atherton- Smith had 14, 13, 16 and 16 tackles and they aren't little teams at all. They're good teams, too, with a combined 42-11 record.
Corona Del Mar & Milpitas are definitely legit. Salinas is average at best, Menlo Atherton not very good.
Salinas went 12-3, gave 14-1 state champ Milpitas their only loss and went to the NorCal finals themselves last season.

Menlo-Atherton won 7 games, went to the 2nd round of CIF playoffs and were knocked out by state champ Salinas. They went 12-3 the season before and went to the state championship game.

They're a lot better than "not very good." And they're not munchkins, either. They had 28 players 6 feet or taller and 21 players at 200+ last season.
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calumnus
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In reply to 71Bear • 5:57a, 7/30/18
71Bear said:
Bear19 said:
bonsallbear said:
Looks like he's playing against Munchkins.
He is. This is the main reason highlight clips cannot be trusted - many teams that Los Gatos HS plays are flat out terrible.

Doesn't take away from what kyle's accomplished or his potential at Cal; D1 coaches know how to look for key indicators when evaluating players, including lots of tape not included in the highlight clips.
re: highlight clips...

IMO, the most "infamous" was Lynch's. It included a number of huge runs v. sad sack Castlemont. After that, I put little stock in HS highlights unless I knew the opponent.....


Except that Lynch was the #2 RB in the country and turned out to be a "pretty good" player in college and the NFL. If he can make long runs in the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl, it seems strange to say his HS highlights were the most misleading.
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tequila4kapp
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6:42a, 7/30/18
What's going on with the positions being recruited and balance of the class? Last time I looked we were very heavily slanted toward the D side of the ball. Is that a reflection of need / making up for prior years? A reflection of where the talent is in this year's recruiting pool? Wilcox being prone to take D players (not unlike SD with WRs)?
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petalumabear
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In reply to tequila4kapp • 6:43a, 7/30/18
tequila4kapp said:
What's going on with the positions being recruited and balance of the class? Last time I looked we were very heavily slanted toward the D side of the ball. Is that a reflection of need / making up for prior years? A reflection of where the talent is in this year's recruiting pool? Wilcox being prone to take D players (not unlike SD with WRs)?
Its roughly 50/50 in terms of O/D.... pretty balanced. We do need some additional DL guys and some skill position guys on O primarily @ WR... but there is certainly balance..
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71Bear
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In reply to calumnus • 8:53a, 7/30/18
calumnus said:
71Bear said:
Bear19 said:
bonsallbear said:
Looks like he's playing against Munchkins.
He is. This is the main reason highlight clips cannot be trusted - many teams that Los Gatos HS plays are flat out terrible.

Doesn't take away from what kyle's accomplished or his potential at Cal; D1 coaches know how to look for key indicators when evaluating players, including lots of tape not included in the highlight clips.
re: highlight clips...

IMO, the most "infamous" was Lynch's. It included a number of huge runs v. sad sack Castlemont. After that, I put little stock in HS highlights unless I knew the opponent.....


Except that Lynch was the #2 RB in the country and turned out to be a "pretty good" player in college and the NFL. If he can make long runs in the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl, it seems strange to say his HS highlights were the most misleading.
I guess I did not make my point clear. Obviously, Lynch was a "pretty good" player. The point was the highlights were against a team that was badly overmatched. That demonstrated to me that HS highlights did not necessarily show a player's true ability because of the huge variance in the quality of the opponents at that level. If all the highlights of a particular recruit were against lower level schools, that would not tell me anything.

The only reason that I knew Lynch's runs were against Castlemont is because I know they had purple uniforms. I have no clue about HS schools in other conferences.

In other words, my comments were not directed at Lynch per se, but rather that his highlights were indicative of something that was generally instructive.
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OdontoBear66
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In reply to Bear19 • 11:40a, 7/30/18
Bear19 said:
bonsallbear said:
Looks like he's playing against Munchkins.
He is. This is the main reason highlight clips cannot be trusted - many teams that Los Gatos HS plays are flat out terrible.

Doesn't take away from what Kyle's accomplished or his potential at Cal; D1 coaches know how to look for key indicators when evaluating players, including lots of tape not included in the highlight clips.
Of late their old league has gotten weaker, but Los Gatos has always tried to play with the best in non league. Lived there for years and there were teams like St. Francis, Mitty, Valley Christian, St. Marys of Stockton, San Benito along with two years of CDM, and then Paly, Milpitas in league. But there is no question that their league competition for the last 10 years has been either Milpitas or Paly. But they do not go out of their way to play cupcakes.

Let me add that he is very strong academically with a 4.0 and 1470 SAT. Not bad. A true student athlete.
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