COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- It is rare to see a college football player with two national title rings, a college degree and still two more years of eligibility with a chance to start for the preseason No. 1 team in the country.
Even more rare is it to see that player, a former Rivals five-star, decide instead to transfer back home and finish his career at the University of Maryland.
But that is exactly what happened in the case of Clemson graduate transfer linebacker Rahshaun ‘Shaq’ Smith, who will suit up for the Terps this fall.
And while the decision to leave the preseason No. 1 team in American following an impressive spring might seem like a nearly impossible one, Smith looked at things in a different way.
“Going to Clemson, the biggest thing that you will hear from Coach Swinney, he will never have a problem with his players--from Day 1 when you walk in the door and your parents drop you off, he makes sure he tells your parents he will make you a better man and you will graduate,” Smith said. “I went down there and I became a better man, I graduated and I won two national championships. I felt like what more could you ask for from that level. I went down there, done that, and I just felt like now it was time for me to actually get on the field and play and throughout the process I was just thinking why not go do it for your home state and do it for your hometown.”
Growing up in Baltimore from a young age, Smith’s biggest fan was his mother, Shenika Brown. So it should come as no surprise that the 6-foot-2, 251-pound linebacker leaned on his mother for advice when deciding to attend Maryland.
“When I first thought about it and I was talking to my mom, I was telling her this is one of the biggest decisions I’ve ever made in my life, it was definitely one of the toughest decisions I’ve made in my life,” Smith said. “But as my mom talked to me, she said, ‘decisions like this will only get harder.’ Later down the road you will look at it like that decision wasn’t as hard as some of the ones you will have to make. She definitely stayed in my corner and we prayed about it. We came to an agreement that I got everything that I needed out of Clemson. I went to college, first in my family to graduate, I got my degree. She was just like, ‘it is totally up to you.’ Coming home and playing in front of your family and friends, that’s an opportunity you can never get.”
While Brown was and still is Smith’s biggest fan, perhaps the biggest influence on Smith’s football career has been none other than Maryland cornerbacks coach Cory Robinson.
A Baltimore native himself, Robinson got his start in coaching at the grassroots level as the founder of Next Level Nation, an organization that works with local youth. He saw something in Smith on the football field, a gift, and began working with him while he was in middle school.
“He always had a passion for working with kids and working with the youth,” Smith said of Robinson. “He came home from college and he wanted to give back and be in the community and show guys there was a different way out. And man, he just took me under his wing from then, from the seventh grade--I can still remember vividly, he was living in him mom’s basement, that’s how fresh home from college he was. From there, we just planted a seed and you know it blossomed and growed and we always stayed tight and here we are today.”
Robinson coached Smith in high school during stops at Calvert Hall and St. Frances before both of their careers took off in 2015. Smith would go on to play for national high school powerhouse IMG Academy down in Florida, while Robinson moved on to the college ranks, taking a position as Maryland’s director of player personnel under then-head coach Randy Edsall.
Fast forward to 2019 and things have come full circle. Robinson is now an on-field coach for the hometown Terps after stops at Toledo, Temple and Rutgers, while Smith is in line to be one of Maryland’s starting outside linebackers after three years in a reserve role at Clemson.
Having so much history and success together in the past after spending the last four years apart, Smith admitted there was definitely a moment between the two as they both entered Gossett for the first time, both as Terps.
“I think it was a moment for both of us,” said Smith. “Seeing [Robinson] at this level, in his natural habitat, him coaching and I’m just looking at him like ‘oh, man,’ guys around me just don’t even know I’m not looking at a coach, I’m looking at a father figure, like a big brother. That’s more so what I’m looking at. The last time we were together, as far as coaching, was in high school. So this is actually my first time seeing him at this level coach and this is his first time seeing me at this level playing. So, you know, there was definitely a moment and we had that moment but we’ve moved on from it.”
Though he’s only been in College Park for a short period of time, the transition back to Maryland has been a seamless one for Smith, which just lends more credibility to the idea that coming home was the right decision.
“It’s been great,” Smith said. “Coming home to a locker room full of guys which I played against in high school and know from the camp circuit, so it was definitely a warm welcome in here. And getting acclimated with the coaching staff and the weight training program, it’s been good, everything has been a good transition.”
