Mississippi State safety Isaac Smith enters sophomore season with confident mindset

Mississippi State safety Isaac Smith got his feet wet a year ago as a true freshman in the SEC and totaled 15 tackles while playing in all 12 games. But it was also a year where the former On3 four-star prospect had to overcome a lot of adversity.

These days the former Itawamba AHS standout is feeling more like himself and more importantly, is finally healthy in order to put his best foot forward. This past weekend Smith met with local reporters to discuss training camp and shared his thoughts on the upcoming season:

Q: How’s camp been so far for you and where are you practicing at?
Smith: I’ve been working at the field safety position and at the ‘money’ in the third-down package. Fall camp for me has been good. I’ve been healthy, unlike last year when I was battling my shoulder and my knee. I actually get to go into fall camp off a full spring workout and a full summer workout. Just getting to learn the playbook and getting deep into that. So I’m ready and it’s been good.

Q: In your opinion, what’s different about this defensive scheme compared to last year?
Smith: I think it’s different just the way we fly around to the ball a lot more. But it’s not really that different.

Q: What’s your relationship like with Coach Matt Barnes?
Smith: Last year we had Coach (Brett) Dewhurst and he was a great coach. But I look at Coach Barnes and he’s like a best friend to me. We joke around, play around, but when it comes down to business he’s a great coach. He’s always going to shoot you the truth and keep you honest. He is here to do his job and make us better.

Q: What was your takeaway from your first year in the SEC?
Smith: Not all things are going to go your way. Even if you have a minor setback, don’t let it determine how you work and how well you prepare yourself for the next game. Being behind Shawn Preston helped a lot, seeing him play hard, play fast all the time. It was just a blessing to be behind someone like that and now competing for a starting spot this year.

Q: How are you approaching things differently heading into your sophomore year?
Smith: For the most part, I’ve got a bigger chip on my shoulder. I feel like I am having to work a lot harder to prove to myself and to other people that I can fill the shoes of what we had last year and be better than what we had last year. I’ve held myself to the mindset of working hard and grinding to prove to everybody that I can do this.

Q: Who are some guys that have caught your attention on your side of the ball?
Smith: Really everybody. But if it had to be somebody particular, I like Stone (Blanton) coming in. He’s been big communication-wise and just doing his role in the middle there. (Sulaiman) Kpaka, of course, coming in on the Dline and he’s been a big add for us from Purdue. Just overall, really everybody. I love how Kelley Jones and Brice (Pollock) and the other DBs are stepping up concluding that we lost a lot of DBs last year.

Q: How big is it for the secondary to get Kobi Albert back?
Smith: He’s going to play a big part. The injury he had was big but he’s been working and doing really good in the summer getting back in the rotation, which is good to see.

Q: What advancements have you seen from Kelley Jones?
Smith: He’s gotten bigger and a lot more physical. But he’s also gotten a lot smarter. Last year being behind DeCam (Richardson) and all those guys, he couldn’t do nothing but learn. This year it’s up to him to make it or break it. He has the right coaches and has everything laid out for him. It’s up to him to take it and run with it.

Q: Who has caught your attention on the other side of the ball?
Smith: I like Blake Shapen. He’s a really good quarterback. He puts balls in places that we can’t get to. So I think that’s good, especially with how fast that play. Then Mario Craver, a freshman, has been doing really good to me.

Q: How difficult was it to get used to the tempo of the offense compared to last year in practice?
Smith: I say the first couple of weeks it was hard to get adjusted to. But after that I think that’s best for us. It’s going to be one of the fastest offenses in the SEC, if not the fastest. We get to practice against that every day and be prepared for what’s next.

Q: Jeff Lebby said the defense has been dominating the offense early in camp. Some people have doubts about the defense but what’s your assessment of the defense?
Smith: We’ve held our ground. We’re going to keep progressing every day and get better installing new things. As fall camp goes on, it’s up to us to know who we are when the time comes and know who we are as a team and as a whole. I think we are going to shock a lot of people with how hard we play and the effort we give out when we are playing.