Xavier Smith holds the FS · Starter spot in UTEP Miners’s safety room. Where he sits among the room’s front-line roles:

Xavier Smith is a 6'0", 195-pound safety for UTEP. The Atlanta native played multiple positions at Langston Hughes High School before beginning his college career at Colorado in 2022 without seeing action. He transferred to Austin Peay in 2023, appearing in all 12 games as a freshman and recording 75 tackles with 5.0 tackles for loss, earning Phil Steele FCS Fourth Team Freshman All-America honors. Smith joined UTEP in 2024, starting 10 of 12 games and accumulating 78 tackles (33 solo) to lead the defensive backs. In 2025 as a redshirt senior, he started all 10 games played, registering 60 total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one interception, and four pass breakups.

Eastern Michigan2020 – 2021

2022

Austin Peay2023

UTEP2024 — present