Notre Dame Offer Makes Impact On 2024 Twin Defensive Targets

Jerod Smith‍ and Jacob Smith‍ may not be a package deal, but the 2024 twin defensive prospects would certainly like the chance to continue playing together at the next level.

The way things are currently going for the Loomis Chaffee School standouts, they absolutely will.

The brothers each have offers from schools like Alabama, Georgia, Penn State, Michigan State, Nebraska, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee and Ole Miss among others.

Notre Dame joined the list of suitors when it offered both last month.

Loomis Chaffee head coach Adam Banks points to the twins’ size and athleticism to explain the elite national interest.

“When you look at the prototypical size of defensive linemen and the fact that they have room to grow, they've got everything that's going to grow them into that size and they've got the athletic ability to really be difference-makers,” says Banks, who spent over a decade coaching at Amherst College and four years as an assistant at Georgetown, where he also played defensive back.

“They're fraternal twins, so their body types are different. I would say Jacob's built for speed and Jerod's built for power. But they really do push one another. It's not enough to be doing great things on their own. They want to be doing stuff together and they want to hold each other up to a really high standard as well. They're just as competitive with each other as they are with any opponent that we have.”

Jerod is likely to be an interior defensive lineman at the next level while Jacob is more of an end with some schools even projecting him as an outside linebacker.

Off the field, Banks calls them “phenomenal.”

“They come from a great family,” he says. “They're a bit of military brats, so they certainly have good heads on their shoulders and they're very grounded. They can't be bringing home poor grades or anything. They're great leaders on campus. In the weight room, they're really great with got stuff too. And they're competitive with each other too being twins.”

The brothers are originally from North Carolina, but call Kentucky home now when they’re not at the prestigious Connecticut prep school.

“They've moved around a little bit,” says Banks. “The decision for them to be able to come up to Loomis was obviously the academic piece of things and then obviously, the ability to have the kind of exposure that they are currently garnering from a school like ours.

“And just being able to be in a program where they're able to compete against people who are high-level kids on a day-to-day basis with our kids who are on campus and also on Saturdays when we're going against our opponents.”

Banks says the brothers were “really excited, really excited” about the offer from the Irish.

“With the family's focus on academics and things like that, a school like Notre Dame that has the reputation that they do from an athletic standpoint and academic standpoint, it was really exciting for them,” he says. “They've got offers from the biggest programs in the country from a football perspective, but for them to be able to get the best of both worlds certainly plays a little bit of a factor in what they're looking for.

“Ultimately, they're going to make the decision, but like I said, being able to to have the options, doing the right things in the classroom gives them the opportunity to be recruited and seriously considered by some schools that are academic institutions and then their football ability's going to speak for itself.”

Banks says the brothers have been in contact with the staff at Notre Dame about trying to get up to South Bend for the BBQ at the end of the month.

The opportunity to play together in college will likely be a factor, but not the only factor in their decisions.

“I'm sure it would be nice. From talking to them, I don't think it's a dealbreaker if they weren't able to, but I think they want to have that option.”

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