Team captain, all-American, team tackle leader, Butkus Award winner – Brian Smith doesn’t want much out of his junior season. And why should he sell himself short?
Smith has already made an immediate impact and put his career on the fast track during in his first two seasons at linebacker. He worked his way into a starting spot as a freshman, and despite missing two games with injury last season, still finished fifth on the team with 54 tackles.
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Smith has established himself as the undeniable leader of the Irish defense.
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Great strides for sure. But to know Brian Smith is to realize that he is a player who is never satisfied, maybe to the point of being too hard on himself at times because he expects to make every play.
“I like to think of myself as the most accountable guy on the field,” Smith said. “It’s good for the guys to see that you have to be accountable for your actions. When you mess up, you own up to it, you learn from it, you don’t let it happen again.”
Smith had a solid spring season, yet he came away from the four weeks of workouts not knowing exactly where he would line up in the fall. That might be a problem for some players, but Smith’s versatility keeps it from being a concern. In fact, the freedom of potentially roaming the outside piqued his interest.
Teammate Toryan Smith had a nice spring at inside linebacker, which allowed the coaches to move Brian Smith outside and freelance some.
“I love it because you never know where I’m coming from,” Brian Smith said. “The more confused they are on where I’m coming from, the better it is for me to make plays. I love it.”
If Toryan Smith can hold down his spot on the interior, expect Smith to play outside, which could lead to some game-changing plays. If Toryan is unable to keep the starting spot, then Brian will likely move back inside to anchor the linebacking corps, possibly alongside incoming freshman Manti Te’o.
Whatever the base position becomes for Brian, he’ll be coming from a lot of different spots and angles this season.
“Versatility is something I pride myself in,” Brian said. “All the great linebackers have it, and I want to be considered one of the great linebackers in the country.”
Smith is emerging as the heartbeat of this defense, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. With veteran Maurice Crum having moved on, Brian Smith is ready to take his spot as the team leader, just ask him.
“I want to be elected by my team as a captain. That’s my No. 1 goal,” he said. “I welcome it with open arms. Anytime that you have guys that look to you as a leader, it’s a great honor, and I’m not going to let my guys down at all.”
Part of being a team leader is having strong character, and Brian said that a lifestyle adjustment was needed if he was going earn and keep the respect of his teammates.
In what has become quite an infamous photo spread, Smith and some teammates – most notably quarterback Jimmy Clausen – were identified on an Internet post, participating in a game supposedly involving alcohol consumption, illegal for their age. Prior to training camp last August, those photos circulated nationally.
“At first it was like, ‘Why can’t I go out to this party if I want to. I’m young, I’m in college, I’m supposed to.’ But it comes with being a Notre Dame football player,” Smith said. “I’ve made drastic changes of how I have to act in order to be known as a captain and a guy to look up to. You have to get your mind right.”
It’s all part of maturation process. It doesn’t seem possible, but Brian Smith is one of the veterans of this team now. It’s been a strange ride through is first two seasons, but Smith is only looking back to the last game. That’s the starting point for this team.
“Hawaii, we kind of dominated that game,” he said. “So I have kind of taken it upon myself that we are going to instill in our minds where every time we step on the field, no matter who we are playing against, Nevada, no matter who, we are going to try to dominate.”
What’s a good season?
Smith defined a good season when he outlined his goals. Butkus Award and all-American might be overly ambitious this year – those can probably wait until his senior season – but leading the team in tackles and becoming a team captain certainly are not.
Brian Smith is an impact player who can be measured by both production and intangibles such as leadership. With a young defensive line, Smith’s role at linebacker becomes even more important, and opportunities for production will become even greater.
Smith has 79 career tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in his career. Barring injury, he will more than double each of those stat lines this season.
Maurice Crum had 100 tackles at linebacker in 2006 and Joe Brockington had 108 in 2007.
There is no reason to think Brian Smith can’t make a run at 110 tackles this season, with 10 tackles for loss and about six sacks. He will lead the team in tackles and become a team captain.
There’s two goals down, which will put the other two nicely in reach for 2010.
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