Southside star football player Derick Smith prepares to take over the field in 2023 season

The Southside Panthers football team has a major weapon on their team this year – a talented and heavily scouted junior named Derick Smith Jr.

Smith, a 16-year-old junior, has been recruited by every college in the SEC and Oregon, USC, Texas, Oklahoma and Clemson. 

But for two more seasons, he will be playing both sides of the ball for the Southside Panthers.

Southside coach Charles Moody said Smith is the best player he has ever coached, calling him “electrifying” with a lot of confidence on the field and intellect about plays.

Moody says the “lightswitch came on early” for Derick when it comes to football.

“He realized his greatness early, and we allow him to be great,” Moody said at Black Belt Media Day at Wallace Community College last week.

“He can score from anywhere,” Moody said, adding they let him make calls on the field as he sees plays and he can play any position.

On top of that, he’s “a great guy and his teammates love him.”

Smith plays with a lot of confidence and said at Media Day that he is most comfortable on the football field with the ball in his hands. “I can cover the field sideline to sideline.”

One of his strengths is his speed, which he says you’ll just have to see on the field.

He is focused when on the field, saying his job is to know what he’s got to do but also what everybody around him is doing. He said he looks at how the defense is set up and that’s how he makes changes while on the field, like switching his route or telling the quarterback to adjust.

He hasn’t made a decision on a college yet or which position he wants to play, since he currently plays them all. But he did indicate a commitment would be coming “soon.”

Smith got to meet University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban last year, which was a highlight considering he grew up watching him on TV. 

Smith, who plays on the team with his twin brother, Eric, said everything he does on the field is for his mother, who passed away at the beginning of his sophomore year. 

“My mom is looking down at me from the sky,” he said, adding “Everything I do is for her.”

He knows his dad is also proud of him, too.

Derick Smith plans to play in the NFL and has one team in mind: the LA Chargers.