After attending all six of Ohio State’s big man camps at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center this summer to get in as much work as he could with Larry Johnson, Will Smith Jr. is already seeing the payoff one game into his senior season at Dublin Coffman High School.
“Definitely, definitely, definitely,” Smith said after Dublin Coffman’s season-opening 14-7 win over St. John’s Jesuit. “I feel like I've learned so much, it's helped me so much from last season to this season.”
Asked specifically how going through drills with Johnson has helped him become a better defensive lineman, Smith says he thinks his lateral quickness and bend have improved. Coupling that with the size and strength he added this offseason, Smith believes his game has taken a big step forward since last season.
“I feel like I got a lot stronger and bigger this year,” Smith, who was 240 pounds last year but now weighs 265 pounds, told Eleven Warriors. “I think I'm faster than I was last year with more weight. So I feel like that’s really good.”
At this time a year ago, Smith was still just hoping to earn an offer from Ohio State. But Smith performed well enough during his junior season at Dublin Coffman to earn an offer from the Buckeyes in January, leading to his commitment just nine days later.
Now that his future as a Buckeye is secured, Smith feels he can focus fully on helping his team win games this season.
“There's some people telling me that it's almost like more pressure. I'm kind of like I'm already here, I'm just gonna work as hard as I can and do everything for my team right now,” Smith said. “It's about us right now. It's not about me. Like I want to do as much as I can for my team and help them out.”
Smith did a lot for his team on Friday, when he was on the field for every defensive play on a night where Coffman allowed its opponent to score only once. Lining up mostly at defensive end, Smith disrupted many plays even though he was frequently double-teamed and St. John’s often ran plays away from the future Buckeye.
Smith came close to blocking multiple punts and also led the way to a touchdown on offense, entering the game as a goal-line fullback on his only offensive play of the night and making a lead block on a fourth-down run into the end zone.
Overall, Smith felt he performed well in his first game of the season, and he was thrilled to start the year with a win. He anticipates he’ll receive some feedback from Johnson, though, once Ohio State’s defensive line coach has a chance to watch the game film.
“I’m sure he’ll watch the tape and text me something,” Smith said.
Looking ahead to next year, Smith says he’s “stoked” about playing at Ohio State, where he expects to line up as a 3-technique defensive tackle. He believes the experience he’s gaining as a defensive end at Coffman will translate well to rushing from the inside at Ohio State, though he said pass-rushing is still an area he feels like he must continue to improve.
Smith was also happy to hear Johnson say this past week that he is still “way away” from retirement, as Smith is looking forward to learning more from Johnson when he begins his Ohio State career in 2023.
“I love hearing that,” Smith said. “I love that dude. I love Coach Johnson. He's a great man.
“He's always trying to help me. I feel like he loves football and I love that.”
Will Smith Jr. attended all six of Ohio State’s big man camps this summer, working out at four of them and watching the other two.
Smith is also excited to be back in Ohio Stadium in two weeks for the Buckeyes’ season opener against Notre Dame.
“Man, I'm stoked for it,” Smith said. “I cannot wait, the atmosphere is going to be crazy.”
Smith says he plans to every attend Ohio State home game this season, and with six other in-state commits in the 2023 class who will also likely make regular appearances at Buckeye games this season, he expects that to be an opportunity to build up his relationships with his future teammates.
“They’ll be coming to a lot of the games with me. So we have like, it’s almost like a closer bond because we're all from the same place,” Smith said of his fellow in-state commits.
