Smith Twins Enjoy Another Notre Dame Visit

By Christian McCollum

April 1, 2023

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Jacob Smith‍ and Jerod Smith‍ returned to Notre Dame this week and the 2024 twin defensive linemen should be back again relatively soon.

“Everything was good,” Jacob told Irish Sports Daily following the conclusion of the visit on Friday night.

The brothers, who visited last summer and this past January, arrived in South Bend on Thursday, hit campus and had dinner with coaches before taking in a practice on Friday.

“I liked what I saw of the practice,” said Jacob. “They were moving fast, organized and they were being coached well.”

Irish defensive line coach Al Washington told Jacob, a 6-foot-3, 230-pounder, to keep his eye on Vypers Jordan Botehlo, Joshua Burnham and Junior Tuihalamaka while his 6-foot-4, 260-pound brother watched more of the defensive line.

“I like how they run their d-line,” Jacob said. “I like how they run picks and stuff, like other schools do. They were showing me that my game could fit into the program.

Washington has built trust with the brothers over the past several months and that continued this week in South Bend.

“He doesn't try to recruit me,” said Jacob. ‘He just talks about the school and how it's more than football there and that you have to really want to do more than football to be at that kind of school.

“They're not trying to sell it to me. They're just trying to tell me what it's going to take if I was to go to that school. I kind of like that part.”

Smith also had the chance to speak with a few of the current players on the roster.

“I was just asking them how they balance school with football and if it's actually as challenging as people say it is and the daily life on campus,” he said. “They said it's manageable, but manageable is different for everyone's opinion.”

The brothers were also able to visit with head coach Marcus Freeman, who they sat down with for about 30 minutes before leaving.

“He's a players' coach and I like that,” Smith said. “He's easy to talk to and I feel like he wants what's best for his players.

“He was just reiterating that not anyone can just go to Notre Dame and he was telling me some of the same things Coach Wash was telling me. Throughout the whole day, they were just showing me what the football players have done from there and that they're like CEOs, business owners and presidents of companies and stuff.”

It’s a message that makes sense to Smith.

“It has shown me that they need a specific kind of player and that not anyone can just go to Notre Dame,” he said.

And Smith believes he and his brother could be that kind of player.

“I definitely could,” he said. “I definitely feel like I could fit in that kind of program.”

Of course, the brothers would probably fit at a lot of schools, which is why they earned so many scholarships before cutting their list down to 10 in January; Notre Dame, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Penn State, Michigan, Ole Miss, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas.

Prior to South Bend, the Cheshire Academy standouts made stops at Georgia, Alabama, Nebraska and Michigan.

“We're done with visits for now,” Smith said. “Next, we've got to schedule our officials.”

It sounds like a good bet the Irish will end up on the list to get an official.

“They'll get one.”