Roderick Smith

EDITOR’S NOTE – This story is reprinted from the December 2009 edition of Bucknuts The Magazine.

He is one of the best running backs to ever come out of Indiana and he could make an immediate impact at Ohio State in 2010.

Roderick Smith of Fort Wayne (Ind.) Harding finished his senior season in 2009 with 1,855 rushing yards (6.5 yards per carry) and 19 touchdowns. For his career, he piled up 6,655 rushing yards, which is the eighth-most in Indiana history. (Interestingly, Smith finished his prep career with exactly 1,000 carries.)

The 6-3, 220-pound Smith didn’t have the greatest supporting cast around him during his senior campaign and Harding finished with a 6-5 record (including 1-1 in the playoffs).

However, Smith had a lot of fun and thinks the season helped prepare him for his OSU career.

“It went OK this year,” Smith said. “I got a chance be the main leader on my team and I did lead my team the best way I could. And by leading the team and being captain, it helped me learn the game more. Only seniors can be captains, so this was my first season being a captain and I enjoyed that leadership role.”

Smith is ranked as the No. 7 running back prospect in the country in the 2010 class by ESPN.com’s Scouts Inc. He committed to Ohio State in July over offers from Michigan State and many others.

“Football is fun for me, but it’s also hard work,” Smith said. “Over time, you understand that the more hard work you put into it, the more fun you are going to have when the games come around.”

Sherwood Haydock is the head coach at Harding and he knows he might never see a player like Smith again.

“Well, the best thing about him is that he runs like he’s 5-11,” Haydock said. “He is 6-3, 220, but you don’t realize that until you stand by him because of the way he runs. He has the elusiveness of a smaller back, and he has great speed burst and great balance. And of course he has power. That is what makes him extremely useful in all areas.

“He has great hands – he could easily be a receiver. He understands the zone running concepts real well. We run a lot of zone and he does a great job of reading blocks and making the right cuts.”

Haydock also offered some insight on how Smith approaches the sport from a mental standpoint.

“Well, he’s a very hard worker and he’s just a smart football player,” he said. “When he first came to us as a freshman, he had come from an I-formation system and was so used to following lead blockers than I had to slow him down in terms of understanding the zone blocking. So, he’s spent a lot of time studying film and understanding that sometimes you have to wait for your block. He’s a tremendous student of the game and wants to be the best at everything that he does.

“When he does have a weakness – which he doesn’t any longer – he works at it extremely hard. He’s been starting since he was a freshman and when he was a freshman he had a little bit of a fumbling problem, but he doesn’t fumble any more.

“He’s still a baby a little bit. And what I mean by baby is that he’s never been in the weight room 12 months out of the year because he’s a basketball player also. He’s still 220 pounds and is strong and benches 300 and squat near 500. So, when he gets in the weight room consistently and eats three good meals a day, he’s going to be about a 240-pound back.”

One of Harding’s rivals is Fort Wayne (Ind.) Bishop Dwenger and its head coach is just glad his team won’t be going up against Smith any longer after this season.

“We haven’t seen many like Rod and we’ve seen him for four years,” Chris Svarczkopf said. “We knew has a freshman that he was going to be special. He has just an amazing combination of speed, power and agility. He’s really a great back. You set up your whole defense to stop him, if possible, and to just reduce the numbers of yards and the amount of touchdowns. So, there’s not too many players that we see where you set up your entire defense to contain him.

“He’s also an outstanding receiver and he’s their kicker. I think something that doesn’t get enough mention is that when he’s on defense – he plays safety back there – you better account for him in your scheme every play. You better know where Rod is all the time because if not, he can steal the game from you. We see a lot of Big Ten recruits here in Northwest Indiana and he’s probably the best I’ve seen come through this area. Rarely do you see one of this ability.”

Buckeyes by a landslide

In terms of the recruiting process, Smith didn’t take very long to make up his mind. He got the offer that he wanted and he quickly decided he wanted to run the ball for Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes.

“Well, he was partial to Ohio State before the recruiting even started because he’s been an Ohio State fan,” Haydock explained. “When he was an incoming freshman, we took a 7-on-7 team over there and I happened to mention to one of their coaches, ‘Hey, this kid is going to be pretty good.’ And then we went over there the next year, too. So, they got to see him live as a 14-year-old and then a 15-year-old and then he went to one of their one-day camps (in 2008) and they got hooked on him because they got to see him and talk to him and not just base everything off of film.

“Well, once Ohio State started showing their interest, everybody else in the Big Ten jumped in in a hurry. But because of his interest in Ohio State, we didn’t push him to wait and see how many scholarship offers he could get because he knew where he wanted to go.

“It was never about the attention. He decided early that he wanted to be a Big Ten guy and he wanted to go to Ohio State. Ohio State offered in the spring and he didn’t accept right away because he wanted to make sure. Michigan State was also in the running, but finally he said, ‘I want to get this over with and I know I want to go to Ohio State.’ ”

The Buckeyes will have a deep stable of running backs in 2010. They will return Boom Herron, Brandon Saine and Jordan Hall, who are the top three backs on the team this year. They will also have Jaamal Berry, who is redshirting this season.

And joining the fold next year will be Smith, Carlos Hyde (who signed with OSU in 2009 but had to go to prep school this year to improve his academics) and 2010 verbal commitment Corey Brown.

However, a lot of fans think Smith might be ready to come in and contribute immediately as a true freshman and he agrees.

“Yeah, I think I can come in and help out a lot in the running game,” Smith said. “I’m big, fast and I can get the tough yards. I’m just a different type of back.”

Smith has been watching Ohio State games on TV for as long as he can remember. And now that he’s a future Buckeye, he made sure to tune in for as many games this season as possible.

“I’ve been watching them a lot,” Smith said. “I’ve been watching to see what they do pretty good and what they need help on. They’re fun to watch. They’ve had a couple tough games this year, but you can tell they’re a great team. I can’t wait to play with those guys.”

For all of his accolades, Smith remains a humble young man. He doesn’t care all that much about notoriety and his teammates and coaches all describe him as the ultimate team player. He wasn’t preoccupied with trying to get as many rushing yards as he could. He just wanted to play well and win.

In fact, his best memory from his senior season was hardly his best game on the ground.

“My best game this year was against (Fort Wayne) Snider,” Smith said. “I only had 105 rushing yards, but I had about nine tackles, a forced fumble and some hard hits. I played well at running back and strong safety that night.”

Smith really enjoys playing defense and he could easily be a college strong safety or linebacker if he wanted to.

“It’s going to be hard giving it up (playing defense) at the next level because I like to go out there and give a hit and stop the pass,” he said. “I love to hit. But I love scoring and running the ball even more.”

Smith is also a talented basketball player that averaged a double-double (points, rebounds) as a junior in 2008-09.

“I get a lot of enjoyment from playing basketball and since this is going to be my last year playing the sport, I just hope we win a lot of games and play good,” Smith said.

Academically, Smith fell behind early in his high school days. He admits that he didn’t take school seriously as a freshman and he’s had to climb his way out of a hole the last three years.

The good news is that all signs point to him being academically cleared by the NCAA and OSU.

“Yes, that was a concern, but I don’t think it is any longer,” Haydock said. “Rod has really buckled down in the classroom and I think he’ll be fine in that area. He still needs to finish strong, but I think he will.”

Added Smith: “Oh yeah, I’m on track to qualify and everything. I’m doing real good school-wise.”

And that is music to the ears of OSU fans that have been longing for a big back like Smith.

The Roderick Smith File

* School: Fort Wayne (Ind.) Harding

* Height, Weight: 6-2, 220

* 40-Yard Time: 4.5

* Vital Statistics: Smith is one of the most prolific rushers in Indiana high school history. In his four-year career at Harding, Smith had 1,000 carries for 6,655 yards. As a senior, Smith had 1,855 yards on 285 carries (6.5 average) with 19 touchdowns. As a junior, he rushed for 1,200 yards and 14 scores. He benches 300 pounds and can squat 400.

* Rankings: Smith is rated as a national top-150 prospect by ESPN.com. That site ranks him as the nation’s No. 56 prospect overall and also as the nation’s seventh-best cornerback. SuperPrep considers Smith as an All-American, ranking him as the 11th-best prospect in the Midwest and the nation’s No. 11 running back.

* College Choices: Smith verbaled to Ohio State on July 1, picking the Buckeyes over Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa and Tennessee.

* Academics: Unreported.

Below is video of Smith in action, courtesy of ScoutingOhio.com.