Dontae Smith has somewhat quietly put together a solid career as a Georgia Tech running back. Now the senior has an opportunity to cement his legacy with a breakout season in 2023.
Smith goes into the campaign penciled in as the team’s No. 1 option out of the backfield. He needs 841 yards to reach 2,000 for his career, a total which would move him into the top 20 on Tech’s all-time rushing list.
“No pressure. I’ve always been ready for it,” Smith said Wednesday after the Yellow Jackets’ ninth practice of preseason camp. “Whether I was the No. 1 guy, No. 2 guy or No. 3 guy, always kind of practiced like, and had a mindset, that I was going to be the No. 1. If I’m the No. 1 guy, it would be no surprise. I’ve always been ready for it.
“You got to be ready for anything. I’m always going to play like I’m the No. 1 guy and practice like it, too, and lead the youngers guys to do the same.”
Smith finished 101 yards behind Hassan Hall for the team lead in rushing yards in 2022. But the 5-foot-11, 198-pound native of Tennessee had a team-high five rushing touchdowns. He also caught 19 balls for 125 yards.
Recently named to the preseason Doak Walker Award watch list, Smith has only one 100-yard rushing game to his credit. That could change over the next three months with Smith now being the offense’s featured back.
“The one thing about Dontae is I think he’s a solid contributor,” Tech running backs coach Norval McKenzie said. “He’s not a kid that’s going to have mental mistakes. He’s going to practice hard. He’s been battled-tested in the past. You feel confident that he can go out there, due to his experience, and have some success. I think right now he’s in a good spot.
“Of course, we lean on him to be a leader in terms of where he is in the room, in terms of the age gap, also in terms of the experience gap. Extremely excited about where he is and hoping for a big fall from him.”
Smith is part of a revamped backfield under McKenzie, an Atlanta native in his first season with the program. Trey Cooley (5-10, 197) joined the team after two seasons at Louisville, and Jamal Haynes (5-9, 180), a former Grayson High star, recently moved from wide receiver to the backfield during this preseason.
Cooley ran for 709 yards in 19 career games for the Cardinals, opting to transfer after Louisville went through a coaching transition in the offseason. A native of Raleigh, North Carolina, Cooley is a former four-star prospect, and his addition to the roster certainly could give Tech a formidable 1-2 punch in the ground game.
After Cooley and Smith, Tech may not be quite sure of what it has until those specific players are given a shot.
Haynes has played in 11 games as a Yellow Jacket, but mostly has been a special-teams contributor and has trained as a wide receiver during his collegiate career. Jamie Felix (Camden County High) had 80 yards on 23 carries over a five-game span as a freshman in 2022.
Evan Dickens was the program’s lone running back signee in the 2023 class.
“Collectively the young guys are doing well,” McKenzie said. “Those guys are learning the material and then talk about that material transferring over to team. They’re learning a lot in the classroom, and then they’re applying it on the field.
“We talk about the game being played from the neck up. It’s a mental game. You got to prepare like you’re the starter. That’s part of my job and part of their responsibility to prepare. I have confidence if I put them in, they’re going to own their rep, and they’re going to do the job.”
At Spring Hill High, 35 miles south of Nashville, Smith ran for more than 4,200 yards and scored 45 times over his final two prep seasons en route to becoming a Mr. Football finalist in the state of Tennessee. But after a redshirt season in 2018, Smith hasn’t come close to putting up the same type of numbers during his college career.
Smith, however, said the only numbers he is concerned with are the numbers in the win column.
“It’s my last season, so of course I want a winning season, and I know that everything that we’ve done up until it’s time to play, we put in the work so it’s time to go show the world,” Smith said. “I think this is going to be the season where we actually play how we’ve prepared and show the world that we’re ready and we can do it.”
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