With 2015 running back Jeremy Smith one of the hottest names on the Notre Dame trail, Irish Sports Daily caught up with his father, Craig Williams, before the family heads to South Bend next weekend for an official visit.
“We are all coming for the official visit,” Williams said. “My wife, his mom and I will be joining up there for the visit, but his younger brother might come too.
“We are excited. Notre Dame has a platform and a brand of higher learning that we want to learn more about. It is a great opportunity for my son and what more can a parent actually wish for? Having an institution of higher learning like Notre Dame, wanting your son to come play football for them is just great. I am blown away.”
Williams has a military background, so it comes as no surprise that his son has turned out to be a high character young man, and the family’s faith was tested with Smith going to California for junior college. Fresno is a quite the car ride from Hammond, Louisiana.
“Jeremy has a Southern upbringing and we are a very humble family,” explained Williams. “I am a Iraqi Combat Veteran, been serving for 17 years and still serving. I raised Jeremy not tough, but like any parent that wants their kid on the right track.
“I’m like any other parent and want the best for my children. I would sacrifice anything for my children to have good opportunities. We are an extremely close family. Going out to California, was a huge step and a leap of faith. I want my son to have an education, but also for him to chase and follow his dreams. He just wants to go to school and play football. Jeremy would be one of the first in our family to graduate from college. He is extremely humble.”
While his son is a reserved and humble kid, Williams isn’t afraid to boast a little bit about Smith’s achievements on the gridiron. Those achievements include some personal glory, but Williams is proud how his son sacrificed for his team as well.
“Jeremy in high school was first-team all district at four different positions; kick returner, outside linebacker, defensive lineman and running back,” stated Williams. “When he goes after something, he puts his heart and soul into it. He is one of the biggest team players that you can ask for. Jeremy would switch positions to help the team win and that spoke volumes. He just played with all of his heart and Louisiana has some of the toughest competition you can play.
“He rushed for 447 yards and seven touchdowns in one game, but he won’t like to talk about it because that’s the type of kid he is. Now here is the thing, you have some kids that fall through the cracks and just overlooked. Jeremy is one of those kids. If you remember though, Jeremy’s 2014 class had Leonard Fournette (LSU), Speedy Noil (Texas A&M), Gerald Willis (Florida), Malachi Dupree (LSU) and Trey Quinn (LSU). You can almost just picture why he fell through the cracks with those guys and others being heavily recruited.”
While he may have slipped through the cracks, the biggest contributing factor to that was an unstable environment that surrounded his high school program. Multiple head coaches in four years simply doesn’t help many get recruited at a Division I level. Regardless of the situation, Smith continued to play and play anywhere for his team.
jeremy-smith-notredame“While Jeremy was at Hammond High Magnet School, he had four coaches in four years,” stated Williams. “One of the coaches was fired after three months, but I won’t put it on the program or the high school because they did the best they could. They were trying to feed their families and put kids in a better place, so you can’t fault them at all. But there were some tough times on that team. Jeremy played quarterback, wide receiver, kicker, punter, returner, and he even held extra points. He did everything that he could possibly do for the team.”
While it might not have been the easiest decision, Smith decided to go to California for junior college and when he arrived, he found running backs coach Jesus Reyes. Smith finally had a position coach that could help him take his game to the next level and consistently teach him the game.
“During his high school career, he never was really focused on playing running back even though in his heart that is where he wanted to play,” said Williams. “Jeremy had never had a position coach until Coach Reyes at Fresno City Community College. He helped Jeremy out immensely this year and with my son you don’t have to tell him twice.”
Smith fits the type of kid Notre Dame loves to recruit on and off the field and Williams wants to put a stereotype to bed about JUCOs.
“He’s first academics and then football second,” he stated. “A lot of people have the misconception about him being a JUCO and other JUCO kids too. Those kids are at JUCOs for a lot of different reasons and it’s not always just academics. We do know that a lot of kids do go to JUCOs for academic reason, but that wasn’t the case for Jeremy. He is a good student and always carried over a 3.0 GPA.”
When the family arrives in South Bend next weekend, both of Smith’s mothers will be paying close attention to how Notre Dame sets their student-athletes up to succeed in the classroom. Williams, a Notre Dame fan, is excited for the trip and understands that if offered, his son may end up having a great opportunity that would be hard for Smith to turn down.
“Both of his mothers and I definitely want to check out the academic side of things,” Smith said. “They are both very intrigued by Notre Dame and then they believe football will take care of itself after academics. We trust the coaches because they have been doing that for years and we just want our son to succeed academically too. An education and a degree from Notre Dame, that’s something you can’t put a price on. Notre Dame is a grand stage for academics.
“I have been a Notre Dame fan for a long time even though I live down here in LSU and SEC country. I take a lot of beef, but the academic side of Notre Dame there is nothing but great things to say.”
