'I would never bet against Will Smith:' Why OSU's 2023 DT commit has something to prove
It didn’t take long for Geron Stokes to realize what he had in Will Smith Jr.
One of the first things the Coffman High School head football coach did when he arrived prior to the 2021 season was meet with Smith to hear his story.
“Right away,” Stokes said, “you knew this kid’s got it.”
But at that point, Smith was solely potential.
He was raw, Stokes said, weak in the weight room. And the Coffman coach knew what Smith wanted: an Ohio State offer, to follow in the footsteps of his late father who was an All-American defensive end for the Buckeyes from 2000-03.
Stokes’ job became clear, simply asking Smith, “What do we need to do to get the Ohio State offer?” And the two went to work.
“We push,” Stokes said. “We challenge every aspect of their life. And Will’s a kid that we saw right away, he responds really well to challenge. You can push him to whatever ceiling you want to push him to because he’ll keep coming. It will never be good enough for him. It’s rare.”
Smith earned the offer. He joined Ohio State’s 2023 class with plans to enroll into the program in January. But as the three-star defensive tackle nears the end of his high school career at Coffman, he isn’t satisfied.
There’s still work to be done.
Will Smith Jr. sets the tone for Coffman's defensive line
Many times, thanks to the opponent's game plan, there’s not much Smith can do on Friday nights.
“Honestly, just tried to run away from 91 a little bit,” Jerome head football coach Brett Glass said after his team’s 16-7 victory against Coffman. “Tried to figure out where he’s going to be and run the other way because he can take a game over on defense.”
All Smith can do is smile. He knows opposing running backs will carry the ball the other way. He knows double teams are coming each time the ball is snapped.
There’s nothing he can do but wait until his time comes, pouncing on any chance that comes his way, whether it’s rushing the end on a rollout and bringing the quarterback down for a sack, or being the resident “big guy” in a jumbo package for the Coffman offense on the goal line.
It’s whatever Coffman needs, Smith said.
“I really just started focusing more on how I can better my team and focus on my skill and do as much as I can,” Smith said.
Even on the practice field at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center this summer, attending each recruiting camp Ohio State held, his focus was on what he could do at Coffman as a senior, drilling with defensive line coach Larry Johnson to improve his pass rush and hold his leverage on the quarterback.
He shared those lessons with his Coffman teammates, offering them the same tips and tricks he learned with Johnson. It’s how Smith leads. He doesn’t speak a lot, Stokes said, but his words and actions carry weight, ensuring that the defense does its job each time it takes the football field.
“It’s just kind of like, we just all boys, and I just feel responsible for helping them be the best they can be on the team,” Smith said.
Will Smith Jr. knows what domination at Ohio State could look like
Heading into his senior season, Stokes said Smith is “so much heavier, stronger and more invested” than ever before.
“Not that he needed validation, but he’s kind of a low-maintenance, humble kid,” Stokes said. “So when Ohio State calls and says ‘We want you to play football at Ohio State,’ he’s like, ‘Oh, maybe I can play. Maybe I can dominate every snap.’ ”
And Smith knows what that domination can look like at the next level.
At Ohio Stadium when Ohio State took on Notre Dame, he saw what a defensive tackle can do in defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ scheme, watching Michael Hall Jr. consistently in the middle of each play.
It’s something not every college coach thought Smith could do.
“I had college coaches come and say, ‘There’s no way,’ ” Stokes said of Smith, a 6-foot-3, 260-pound lineman, who will join the Buckeyes as a defensive tackle. “‘There’s no way he can play there.’
“And I go, ‘OK. You don’t know the person underneath the helmet.’”
"There is purpose inside of there"
For Smith, it’s too early to talk about legacy. He still has the majority of his senior season to go before he officially joins the Buckeyes in January.
And while it still hasn’t sunk in that his time at Coffman is coming to an end, Smith does have an idea of how he wants to be remembered.
“I want to be a great person,” Smith said. “I want to help anybody that needed to be helped. I don’t know. I have a fun personality, and I want to be known as just a good guy.”
In Smith, Stokes sees the same potential he saw when they first met. He sees a player with a chip on his shoulder. He sees an underdog, striving to prove to himself that he can follow in the footsteps of his father.
In Smith, Stokes sees a player that is easy to root for.
“I would never bet against Will Smith,” Stokes said. “Maybe he can’t (meet the expectation). None of us know that, but I know there is a hunger inside there.
“There is a purpose inside of there that can’t be measured.”
Ohio State football's 2022 schedule
Week 1: Ohio State 21, Notre Dame 10
Week 2: Ohio State 45, Arkansas State 12
Week 6:Ohio State vs. Michigan State, Oct. 8, East Lansing, Mich.
Week 8:Ohio State vs. Penn State, Oct. 29, State College, Pa.
Week 11: Ohio State vs. Maryland, Nov. 19, College Park, MD.
Week 12: Ohio State vs. Michigan, at noon Nov. 26, Columbus, Ohio
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Will Smith Jr. has something to prove as Ohio State 2023 DT commit