Playing or Coaching, Carter Smith Makes Big -- Literally! -- Impact
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana football practice is over, instruction is not, and Carter Smith enters coaching mode.
Offensive line coach Bob Bostad has finished his group session. Smith, an All-American left tackle sidelined because of off-season shoulder surgery, sees an opportunity to further help the younger linemen and morphs into an imposing 6-foot-5 and 313-pound player-coach. He focuses on redshirt freshmen Baylor Wilkin and Evan Parker, and true freshman Ben Novak. Specifically, Smith has them use a red pad to refine blocking technique.
“Yeah. There you go,” he says after one drill. “Do it with two hands!” he says after a second.
As for getting back to his own playing action, patience rules.
“I’m always itching to put the pads on and crack some dude on the other side of the ball,” says Smith, the reigning Big Ten offensive lineman of the year. “Now, I’m taking a step back and seeing it from a wider range.
“Even when I’m watching guys on TV, like the NFL or college, I’m watching exclusively line play.
“It’s a good moment for me to see it, especially with the young guys to see what they do on the field and once they come off, coach them up.”
“We want to get (Smith) back 100 percent so he can take the next step as a player,” head coach Curt Cignetti says. “He’s taken huge steps both years he’s been here. We want him to take another step, make more progress, and be a great leader for us.”
Last season, Smith was a leader on one of the nation’s best offensive lines, a group that helped quarterback Fernando Mendoza win the Heisman Trophy and the Hoosiers go 16-0 and win the program’s first national championship.
Smith started every game and allowed just nine total pressures and two sacks on 483 pass blocking snaps. Pro Football Focus gave him the ninth-best overall grade among major college linemen and listed him as one of just 12 offensive linemen nationally to play more than 1,000 snaps, finishing with 1,028.
Smith’s performance generated enter-the-NFL-Draft thoughts (he projected as a third-round pick), but surgery to repair a labral tear in his left shoulder convinced him to return for a final season.
“With my first time being like this (injured), I have to prove (to the NFL) I can do all the same things,” Smith says.
As for not practicing this spring, he adds, “Usually, I'm the kind of guy to be able to run back to the line two days after the (season-ending) game and still want to be able to hit something. I am itching a little bit right now, that's for sure. Timeline-wise, I see myself getting back for fall camp.”
Despite the surgery, Smith says he did off-season weightlifting.
“I'm not allowed to put a lot of pressure on (the shoulder), but that's going to change here in a few weeks. I’m keeping it very manageable.”
Smith, who was athletic enough to play volleyball at Ohio’s Olentangy Liberty High School, has started 38-straight games as a Hoosier. He joins Bray Lynch and Drew Evans as full-time offensive line starters.
“We’re all close,” Smith says. “Having three guys there for so long helps build that camaraderie and helps bring the culture around the (offensive line) room. We have plenty of experience, guys who have played plenty of football and started for three years. Having that is huge.”
Also back is versatile Adedamola Ajani, who started four games down the stretch last season as a redshirt freshman. That included playing three different positions.
“He saw plenty of responsibility,” Smith says. “The first game he was in was at Penn State, so he has a lot of experience. He played in a lot of those big games. It’s always key to get that in early.
“(At 6-foot-4 and 308 pounds), he’s a long guy. He has the want to do it. He does a good job of moving guys off the ball. He’s very physical.”
“We want to get (Smith) back 100 percent so he can take the next step as a player,” said Cignetti. “He’s taken huge steps both years he’s been here. We want him to take another step, make more progress, and be a great leader for us.”
IU added Joe Brunner, a 6-foot-7 and 313-pound transfer from Wisconsin who started the last 24 games at left guard. He didn’t allow a sack last season. He also earned three-straight Academic All-Big Ten honors.
“(Brunner) is a cool guy,” Smith says. “He’s good in the run game. He gets off the ball really well and has a nice low-pad level. He’s smart.
“It’s not the first time he’s worked with Coach Bostad. He worked with him at Wisconsin his freshman year.
“I haven’t seen him play much. I haven’t watched a lot of Wisconsin football, but it’s a great body to have in there. He’s moving dudes off the line of scrimmage.”
Smith offers high praise for Wilkin.
“I see him stepping up,” Smith says. “I see him as a really fast dude who can connect bodies really fast. He has a good strike. He might be a little on the short side, but he makes up for it with his length.”
Redshirt sophomore Austin Leibfried has also shown promise.
“He plays a lot of center, and he’s moving around at a lot of the guard spots so he’s spent a lot of time in the interior,” Smith says. “With him being a swing player for a lot of our inside spots, he fills a lot of gaps.”
The biggest gap will be filled when Smith returns to action. IU opens its season on Sept. 5 against North Texas at Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium.
“We want to get (Smith) back 100 percent so he can take the next step as a player,” Cignetti says. “He’s taken huge steps both years he’s been here. We want him to take another step, make more progress, and be a great leader for us.”