Trey Smith has made his decision he’s coming back for his senior season.

No matter what Smith was planning to announce on Thursday, he was always going be a legend on Rocky Top — now he may one day have a street on campus named after him.

With Smith announcing his return to school, Tennessee could potentially start four 5-star offensive linemen on its offensive line next fall. (Smith, Wanya Morris, Darnell Wright and Cade Mays were all five-star recruits in high school).

Smith made his announcement on Thursday during a press conference held by the school.

After signing with the program over the likes of Alabama, Ohio State and Ole Miss and being rated as ESPN’s No. 1 overall prospect in the nation in the 2017 recruiting cycle, Smith could have played for any school in the country but the pull to play for his in-state school was too much to overcome.

Following his off-the-field battle with blood clots following his Freshman All-American season in 2017, many would have understood if Smith decided to hang up his cleats in 2018 when his health scare first arose but Smith never let his condition stop him and he came back better than ever in 2019. Smith was named First-Team All-SEC by the league’s coaches following the 2019 season.

It’s not an exaggeration to suggest Smith put his life on the line to play football for the University of Tennessee and he did so as the team’s best player for multiple seasons.

Just when it looked like Tennessee couldn’t have much more momentum heading into the offseason, the Volunteers now have legitimate aspirations of challenging for the SEC East division following this news. Expect Smith to be a leader for the program on and off the field for the entire 2020 season, beginning with the start of the program’s upcoming offseason program.