Smith earns invite to Top Gun
One of the athletes attending last weekend's Football University camp in Woodbury was Rosemount offensive guard Jacob Smith. Unlike most of the athletes competing at the two-day event, Smith already has his college ticket punched. Smith committed to Brigham Young University nearly nine months ago. With very little to prove, Smith is not willing to rest on past success.
"I am just looking to improve my technique and form. We have a great coach here so I am just looking to get more out of it and learn my position as best as I can."
FBU was nothing new for the 6'6" 314-pound junior.
"This is my third year being here. I have a good amount of experience just with how the camp works, but you can always learn. I have had three great coaches the past three years, and I have learned something new every time I've come here."
Smith reiterated how much he feels this camp, in particular, helps his overall game.
"I like this camp more than all the others because this is more about improving your form and technique and improving as a player than just telling you to do something to get out there so you can get in front of scouts and coaches. This camp you get to go into the classroom and break down what you do with the coach. I think you get a lot more out of it."
As effective as Smith – northstarfootballnews.com's 8th Ranked prospect in the class of 2018 – is on the field, he knows resting on his past college offers and his current commitment is not going to help anyone but his future opponents.
"The main reason I like to come to these camps is to get out of my comfort zone," Smith said. "There is more to football than charging full steam at someone. There is more technique and form."
Although the Irish like to run the ball, Smith is more than a straight ahead mauler.
"(Rosemount head coach Jeff) Erdmann likes to keep his bigger guys at guard. We like to pull a lot, so I will be playing right guard with Ian Bass as my right tackle."
As of now, Smith expects to move to tackle when he heads to BYU.
"I've talked to the offensive line coach, and he said I am going to end up playing tackle when I get out there. It makes sense; (the O-line coach) said I have more of a tackle frame and structure."
Smith will likely have more camps in his future, but his performance last weekend landed him a spot at Top Gun later this year.
