2017 Wide Receiver Michael Smith Not Hiding Excitement Over Irish Offer
Michael Smith, a class of 2017 wide receiver from Vero Beach (Fla.) High, is a relative unknown in the world of college football recruiting.
You won’t find Smith on any top-100 lists or with any starts next to his name, but you may just find him as a member of Notre Dame’s 2017 recruiting class.
Smith was offered by the Irish Dec. 21.
According to Smith’s head coach at Vero Beach, Lenny Jankowksi, Notre Dame running backs coach Autry Denson had been in contact with the receiver for some time before the offer came.
Of course, it wasn’t without a little nudging from Jankowksi first.
“When I started figuring that this kid could be on that level, I reached out to the guys that I’ve become close to in the business,” Jankowski said. “Coach Denson is one of those guys. I have the utmost respect for him. He does such a great job and I knew I would get an honest opinion.
“Whether I would like it or not, I wasn’t sure, but I knew he would genuinely look at his film and pass it on to whoever he needed to pass it on to and give me a fair evaluation.”
According to Jankowski, Denson’s first response was a standard thank you, but after he took a deep look at Smith’s film more serious discussions started happening.
“I started having conversations that were more than just a polite ‘thanks but no thanks’ kind of thing,” Jankowski explained. “It was more of, ‘What else you got going? How is he academically? We really like the kid, Coach Kelly really likes the kid,’ and on and on from there.
“Coach Denson usually swings by here a couple times a year. He came by and sized the kid up, had some conversation with him, and I think he left impressed.”
On that film, Denson and the rest of the Irish coaching staff saw Smith go for more than 1,500 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns as a senior.
So how did such a prolific receiver fly so far under the radar in terms of recruiting?
For starters, Smith started out just playing basketball. When he did start playing football at Vero Beach, he was a little behind, but according to Jankowski when he caught up with the game everything changed.
“It’s pretty typical around here that we’ve got some kids who come out for football after they’ve been in high school,” he said. “Michael was a guy who got involved with football pretty late. He was on the team last year and we had some senior receivers.
“Although they weren’t in the same category as him athletically, they weren’t bad themselves. Mike is such a nice kid and a good person, that he just kind of felt his way into it.”
The depth chart cleared for Smith to take charge his senior year, and after some meetings with Jankowksi, he did exactly that.
“We had multiple friendly conversations and some not-so-friendly conversations about him taking a dominating approach to the game because he has those capabilities,” he said. “Sure as heck, he took to it in the offseason. He really worked at his craft and just took a dominant approach to it.
“I think as his confidence grew, and he grew comfortable with the sport, the rest is history. When I say he started dominating and taking over football games, that’s an understatement.”
Finally the offer came, and Jankowski said anyone around Smith could tell how special it was to him.
“I know that when I was able to tell him that he had an offer from Notre Dame, there was a different look and a different bounce in his step,” he said. “There’s no hiding the excitement.”
Almost simultaneously with the offer, came the planning of an official visit, which Smith is scheduled to take Jan. 20. He officially visited Pitt Dec. 9.
Jankowski said that Smith’s interest in the Irish came from the receiver growing up following Notre Dame, and watching them play every Saturday.
“When you say Notre Dame, I think it speaks for itself,” he stated. “It’s just a great brand. Down here in Florida, if they can’t buy the hoodie at Walmart, then they may not even have heard of the school.
“The difference with Michael is he’s a big fan of the game. I know he’s followed Notre Dame’s style of football and their offensive style.”
The biggest factor drawing Smith toward South Bend, though, is the first connection he had with the Irish: Autry Denson.
“I think the exclamation point on it all is Coach Denson, the guy who is recruiting him,” Jankowski said. “Our guys that have had an opportunity to meet Coach Denson and be around him all leave impressed.
“I think high school players, at some point, are going to be influenced by the people that are close to them and we have an opportunity as coaches to talk to our players, and they understand that I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach Denson.”
Jankowski said he thinks Smith and Notre Dame would be a perfect fit.
“In my opinion, and we coach all walks of life, Mike is a kid that would fit in to the Notre Dame situation,” he said. “He makes whoever he’s around proud.”
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