Andre Smith can relate to expectations of Tide freshmen
August 01, 2008
If anyone can identify with the expectations Alabama’s touted freshmen carry into training camp, it’s Andre Smith.
The 6-foot-5, 335-pound crusher from Birmingham has been anchored at left tackle since he arrived on campus three years ago. He started for Mike Shula as a freshman and has only solidified his place up front.
Smith was a prep All-American at Huffman High, every bit as coveted as the most prized recruits of this freshman class.
“I can relate in several ways,” Smith said after the Tide’s first practice.
But his advice to the freshmen was simple.
“It’s just ultimately, you have to work hard and listen to your head coach or your position coach, and everything will take care of itself,” he said. “Work hard, clap off the last play and just look forward.”
It’s not uncommon for most freshmen, even the most talented, to look lost the first few days of camp. Even Smith had a brief learning curve, only about three days.
“I was physically able to do it, but by the third day I was mentally able to do it. So that’s when it all started,” he said. “When I was under (Huffman) coach (Curtis) Coleman, all we did was run the ball, so run blocking, that wasn’t a problem. We worked a lot on pass protection while we were in practice, so everything came pretty easy.”
Things have come easy until now for most of the freshmen. Smith liked what he saw this summer and on Friday.
“All of them did an outstanding job,” he said. “Everybody worked hard to finish and compete and ultimately made the team better.”
