Jack Smith went through a bit of a culture shock this past year.
But you won’t hear him complaining.
Relocation can be common when you’re the son of college coach so when Arizona State hired father Tracy Smith to lead their baseball program last summer the family made the move out west.
The Mountain Pointe senior-to-be quarterback traded in the brutal Indiana midwest winters for the heat of the desert.
“I’m loving it,” Smith said with a smile to Sports360AZ.com last week. “I’m not going to complain about it being hot but I’ll complain about it being negative 12.”
Speaking of hot, colleges are becoming hot on the trail of the 6’1, 180-pound duel threat quarterback who’s athletic enough to play a number of positions on either side of the ball according to Pride head coach Norris Vaughan.
“We’ve run some shotgun over the last few years but not much,” Vaughan explained. “We’ll run more this year just because of him. Because of his running ability.”
Mountain Pointe will look to replace a number of key pieces but appear to have the athleticism to plug holes and continue their consistently winning ways under Vaughan. Smith’s top target will likely be two-way star Isaiah Pola-Mao.
Spring workouts gave Smith the opportunity to adjust not only to his teammates but a new, more complex offense under Vaughan and his staff.
“It’s different because it’s scheme-based,” Smith said. “Last year [in Indiana] it was just throw to the open man. Here I’m making reads. Going off what the corner’s showing me, what the safety is showing me.”
He’s taking the transition on the field much like he has off it: smooth.
“I don’t feel it,” he explained about stepping in as Mountain Pointe’s starting quarterback as the son of ASU’s head baseball coach. “I’m just out here playing football. I’m a kid. I’m just having fun. I don’t like to feel pressure.”
Smith has been offered by NAU, UNLV and Montana. Expect the list to grow considerably in the coming months as schools vie for the talented athlete whose dad played baseball at Miami of Ohio.
