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Houston Christian Transfer Defensive Tackle Zae Smith Commits to Cal

Originally posted on Cal Bears on SI | By Jake Curtis | Last updated May 1, 2025 11:13 PM ET

Houston Christian transfer defensive tackle Zae Smith announced on social media on Thursday that he has committed to Cal.

Smith will take a step up in class from the FCS level, but he figures to compete for playing time at one of Cal’s two starting defensive linemen in the Bears defensive scheme. Smith has one year of college eligibility remaining.

Aidan Keanaaina, Derek Wilkins, T.J. Bollers and Nate Burrell are the other players competing for playing time at those two down linemen position. Burrell looked like he would win one of those starting jobs, but he missed the last few days of spring ball with an injury and it is not clear what his status will be in the fall.

Let’s work @CalFootball @ZCardenez pic.twitter.com/1W3kYIbe7B
— Zae Smith (@ZaelynSmith) May 2, 2025

The 6-foot-1, 270-pound Smith had 54 tackles while playing in 12 games for Houston Christian in 2024. He also recorded 7.5 tackles for loss and five sacks, which are impressive numbers for an interior defensive lineman.

However, Smith was playing at the FCS level, where the competition consisted of teams such as Tarleton State, Indiana State, Nichols, East Texas A&M and Northwestern State.

Houston Christian played two FBS schools in 2024, and Smith had two tackles in a 59-7 loss to SMU and one tackle in a 45-7 loss to Texas-San Antonio.

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This article first appeared on Cal Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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