After being dismissed from the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team on the heal of two suspensions for undisclosed violations, offensive linean Phil Smith is transferring to the University of Central Florida Knights football team, where he is expected to play right away. Smith missed the first two games of the 2011 season due to a suspension, and he was sent home before the team took the field in the Sun Bowl for another violation before the team decided to pull the plug. Neither violation has been made public.
Due to NCAA rules, a player who graduates from one school and transfers to another to pursue a graduate degree that isn't offered in at the first school is eligible immediately. Smith plans to graduate from Georgia Tech this spring and then enroll at UCF in May.
"I wanted to go to place where I'd be able to play, had the graduated programs that I was interested in, which for me was marketing, sports management, [health care management]," Smith said.
The two teams have a completely different style of offense. Georgia Tech runs an option-based offense while the Knights run a pro-style offense. Still, Smith believes he's athletic enough to fit in and make an impact this season.
"I feel like I'm athletic enough to make the change and I don't think that will be the issue," Smith said. "I feel like the issue will be learning the playbook."
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