In April of 2012, as Urban Meyer and his newly constructed coaching staff took the field for the first times at Ohio State, the always to-the-point Meyer made it known that he hadn't happy with his young wide receivers.
“It’s not a clown show out there," Meyer said that first spring in Columbus. "Like at a couple of points it was.”
That spring, was not just the first for Meyer at Ohio State, but also for Zach Smith, who worked with Meyer at Florida as a graduate assistant before getting his first full-time assistant job with Marshall and fellow Meyer protege Doc Holliday in 2010. Smith's hiring in Columbus, where his grandfather Earl Bruce–who gave Meyer his first full-time coaching position–turned some heads after only two years of assistant coaching experience. The drumbeats that Smith, born and raised in nearby Dublin, may not be ready for the big-time were only made louder by Meyer's pointed comments, but anyone not looking for someone to blame knew there was a very, very tall task ahead of Smith.
Why?
Do you remember 2011? The Buckeyes' three leading pass catchers, freshman Devin Smith, sophomore Corey "Philly" Brown and junior tight end Jake Stoneburner, tied for the team lead in receptions with 14.
For the season, 13 games–as a team–Ohio State's wide receivers caught 65 passes. That is an epic lack of production from one of the "nine units strong" the Buckeyes now rely on to win football games.
In 2012, as the offense relied even more heavily on the legs of Braxton Miller, Corey Brown had 60 catches by himself and Devin Smith, who hauled in 30 passes as a sophomore, began to emerge as one of the country's best big-play weapons. Only six Buckeye wide receivers caught passes during that undefeated season, including one grab by Verlon Reed, but Devin Smith and fellow sophomore Evan Spencer began to assume much needed leadership roles alongside Philly Brown.
For Zach Smith, it was the 2013 recruiting class that gave him his first chance to show his chops in the living rooms of prospects around the country. Ohio State landed wide receivers Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson, James Clark and Corey Smith, each of whom was ranked as a four-star prospect across the national recruiting rankings. That effort helped lead to a No. 2 overall class ranking that February.
The much-anticipated 2013 season saw the Scarlet and Gray returning most of their talent on both sides of the football, including Smith's wide receivers. That unit, again led by Brown, Smith and Spencer, caught 147 passes, but once again a lack of quality depth proved problematic. While Michael Thomas and Jalin Marshall took redshirt years, again only six receivers caught passes, including one reception each for walk-on Kato Mitchell and freshman Frank Epitropoulous. Smith's group had certainly grown more effective and the top-heavy group was developing into NFL caliber players, but the second half of the roster was not getting much work.
The 2014 signing class came and went and Smith's recruiting excellence was on full-display. He was named the conference's "Recruiter of the Year" by both Rivals.com and Scout.com. He was the primary recruiter for defensive end Jalyn Holmes and wide receiver Johnnie Dixon, establishing himself as a formidable recruiting foe in the talent hotbeds of Virginia and Florida.
It was the 2014 season that really saw Smith and his wide receiving unit take off. Devin Smith and Evan Spencer returned for their senior seasons, but it was the emergence of Mike Thomas, Jalin Marshall and Corey Smith that helped Smith give the group a new, versatile persona: Zone Six. The confidence in the position group meant an increase in production (181 catches) and a number of key moments on the Buckeyes' way to the national title.
With his personal brand exploding, Smith's confidence on the recruiting trail followed suit. Smith was the lead recruiter on Torrance Gibson, Matt Burrell, KJ Hill and Alex Stump, as well as being a key player in the signings of AJ Alexander and Damon Arnette.
While Zone Six was growing in confidence (Corey Brown, Devin Smith and Evan Spencer had joined Aaron Dobson and Rod Streater–who Smith coached at Marshall and Temple in 2010 and 2011–in the NFL), the summer of 2015 turned out to be an interesting one for the fourth-year Ohio State assistant. The University of Michigan football program, under new management, decided to try and use some fairly aggressive negative recruiting tactics against Smith in their efforts to lure Fort Wayne, Indiana's Austin Mack away from the Buckeyes. It appears the Wolverines were unaware that Mack had been privately committed to Ohio State for almost six months.
That didn't sit well with Smith, and the new, slightly more brash element of the "Zone Six" personality went viral.
Check my Resume... And if it's confusing... Check my live resume next November. It will be the same resume as the last 3 Novembers.
— Zach Smith #Zone6 (@CoachZachSmith) June 7, 2015
That tweet was one in a series of ring-toting, bravado-filled messages that Smith had for Michigan the day that Mack, identified as the Buckeyes' top wide receiver target in the 2016 class a summer before, made his commitment to Ohio State public. In fact, Smith had pinpointed three wide receivers as his primary options for 2016 and–barring a change of heart by Ohio State in regard to Miami signee Sam Bruce as signing day approached–he would have landed them all. Still, he landed Mack, Binjimen Victor and Wayne Davis while lending a helping hand in the efforts to secure Nick Bosa, Gavin Cupp and others. He was once again named Scout.com's Big Ten Recruiter of the Year in 2016.
Smith's Twitter persona has no doubt ruffled feathers as he's proven over and over that he's not only willing to take on coaches of other teams, but fans as well. This week he's voiced his opinion on more negative recruiting angles being taken by an SEC program with regard to one of the country's top wide receivers.
Hide behind your sales pitches and theories. This @Zone6_OSU life is called FACT, TESTIMONY & REAL TALK.
— Zach Smith #Zone6 (@CoachZachSmith) April 22, 2016
We don't deal in "Sales"
That series of tweets apparently upset the coaches at a Big Ten school, Nebraska, who felt he was talking about them for whatever reason (the Huskers just hosted Tyjon Lindsey for a visit last weekend, so perhaps they had a little bit of a guilty conscience as to what they were selling Lindsey?) and Smith immediately fired back at the folks in Lincoln.
WELL this is awkward... I was referring to recruiting pitches of a certain SEC school-But Im sure these other schools are relevant too!
— Zach Smith #Zone6 (@CoachZachSmith) April 22, 2016
There are many who would like to see that dialed back, but it's only half the story and it puts major crosshairs on Smith's back but it also illustrates to recruits that he's going to be real with them as well as anyone else, which is a vital distinction in today's "sales-pitch" recruiting from staffs that lack continuity and/or tangible successes.
The reality is that as a recruiter, he is as important to Ohio State as Kerry Coombs has been since 2012 and while the "old guard" may not like the way it's approached, his style works with recruits–not just wide receivers–and their families, as evidenced by this tweet from Matt Burrell's mother.
@CoachZachSmith sat in our living room and showed the same sincerity he has shown EACH occassion SINCE. Go Bucks! https://t.co/GDJXH5knyM
— BuckeyeMomma56 (@BuckeyeMomma56) April 22, 2016
As the 2017 class has begun to take shape, Smith has once again proven worth his weight on the recruiting trail. He landed four-star defensive tackle Haskell Garrett from Nevada and has spearheaded the recruitments of wide receivers Tyjon Lindsey, Trevon Grimes, Danny Davis and others.
Whether you like it or not, Smith's style works for the players in the Ohio State locker room and in living rooms around the country, so you may as well get used to it.
