YSU’s Smith living up to family legacy
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YOUNGSTOWN -- Cam Smith has a long, distinguished hometown family legacy to live up to.
Both his father, Randy, and older brother, Randy Jr., each had successful football careers during their times at Youngstown State. Randy was a defensive back on three of YSU's national championship teams from 1991-94 and set four program records during his time with the Penguins, while Randy Jr. was a running back for the Penguins from 2018-22.
"Just being able to be a part of that Smith legacy at YSU, every time I strap up that helmet and go on the field, it just means a lot more to me than just going out there and playing a football game," Smith said.
So when Smith instead opted to go to Iowa State after graduating from Austintown Fitch, it came a little by surprise. But ultimately, he was "betting on himself."
After three years with the Cyclones, however, YSU got Smith the second time around when he transferred back in January.
Through seven games with the Penguins, Smith has been a mainstay in YSU's secondary, starting every week at strong safety.
He had a breakout performance in the conference opener at South Dakota State, leading the team with a career-high 15 tackles. He then followed that up with a timely interception in the Penguins' victory over South Dakota, and led YSU in tackles again this past week at Indiana State.
"It goes back to our preparation every day of the week. We just go out there and basically treat practice like a game," Smith said of his performances. "When we're not on the field, we're watching film, we're getting our study groups together, the safeties and linebackers. We'll get the whole defense together just so we really get a good feeling of what they got going on and how they run their offense.
"It's just the preparation of film work, but then also the preparation of practice. So if you come out here and you don't practice as hard or you don't practice at your fullest ability, there's no way you're going to play at your fullest ability in the game."
That initial decision back in high school to leave Youngstown for Ames, Iowa, wasn't easy for Smith.
He and his brother grew up watching VHS tapes of his father's playing days, which is how Smith initially learned about the relationships and brotherhood that come from playing a team sport like football.
But Smith wanted to see if he could make an impact for an FBS team playing on the biggest stages of college football.
"I felt like at that time I was playing really good football my senior year of high school, and I wanted to take a chance on myself, go out to Iowa State and see what I could do," Smith said. "I also graduated early, so I felt like that was going to give me somewhat of an edge just going up there and getting reps earlier than all the other guys coming in there."
Then when Smith finally came home this year, no one was more ecstatic than his father. It's also given him the opportunity to play in front of his hometown family and friends every week.
"It's very much a blessing. When I was out at Iowa State, my family was able to get out there, but they weren't able to get out there as much as they would have liked," Smith said. "So being right in the backyard, I know every game I'm gonna have some type of family there. My girlfriend's very close, her family's there, my grandma's there. I feel like I have a duty to basically put on for my family name, the Penguins and then at the end of the day, all the people that have supported me my whole life."
Despite only joining the program in January, Smith bonded with his teammates and quickly emerged as a leader in the Penguins' locker room.
"He brings leadership, first and foremost, before he even stepped on the field," YSU head coach Doug Phillips said. "You know what Cam brings in that locker room, you know the brotherhood, the leadership that he provides on that defensive side of the ball."
Those leadership qualities came naturally to Smith. He was part of what he called a "player-led program" at Iowa State, which is what the coaches and older players at YSU have tried to cultivate in recent years.
"When I came here, I harped on the fact that I'm going to continue doing what I do every single day. It's not going to change whether I'm at a different school, a different conference or a different level of play, because at the end of the day, football's football," Smith said. "You need leaders out there. You need a very tight-knit brotherhood of guys that want to go out there and compete with each other and compete for each other at the end of the day.
"I've been blessed to be placed into a leadership role by Coach Phillips and even by my teammates. It takes trust, and leadership is a two-way street. They gotta trust me, and I gotta be able to trust them. I'm very grateful for all my teammates who trust me enough to be their leader."
It hasn't all been smooth sailing for Smith, however.
At the start of fall camp, he was battling serious cramping issues that kept him off the practice field for a stretch. Smith said he used that time to further understand defensive coordinator Ryan Riemedio's scheme, while also exploring the mental side of football alongside Phillips, Riemedio and safeties coach Trent Voss.
Since returning, he hasn't missed a beat. After earning a starting spot at strong safety, Smith has been a key piece of a much-improved unit and is second on the team in total tackles with 45.
"He had a rough start to camp. But he recovered and then got into a groove. I think he's playing great football right now, and he wants to be the best," Phillips said. "But I really appreciate the leadership role in the locker room more than anything."