By Erik Harris
TRUSSVILLE – Once the lights were dimmed and the Hewitt-Trussville faithful turned from the final game of the 2014 football season, first-year head coach Josh Floyd sat in the quiet of his office and looked to physicality as the offseason priority.
His efforts to establish a stronger line of scrimmage have been enhanced by the addition of a transfer student from Class 4A Leeds High School.
Despite his buried position in the interior of the Green Wave defensive line, Christian Smith had no trouble being seen last season. The sophomore, who had grown up in Trussville schools until the eighth grade, proved to be unblockable at times.
Smith will have two years of eligibility in the Huskie program, now that he’s returned home. As a 6-foot-1 sophomore for Leeds, he won the battle in the trenches more times than not, earning a spot on the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Class 4A All-State second team.
According to Smith, he gobbled up over 100 tackles a season ago to go along with 11 quarterback sacks and three forced fumbles. Leeds won the Class 4A state championship last year, finishing with an overall record of 14-1.
“We’ve got the capability [at Hewitt-Trussville] to become a state championship team, if everybody collectively comes together as one team,” said Smith.
Why was Smith wearing green and white as an underclassman when he could’ve been wearing red and white? His father, Greg, was displeased with the program former head coach Hal Riddle was running.
“When they had some other coaches over there, it was a waste of time with him playing at Trussville,” said Greg, who referred to the pre-Floyd program as “daddy ball”.
“Now that the program has changed, it’s a completely different situation from where it was,” Greg said.
In his short time back, Smith has enjoyed going to work for the Hewitt-Trussville coaching staff. He sees first-year defensive coordinator Rudy Griffin as a guy that can bring more “hype” to that side of the ball.
Smith currently holds one scholarship offer from Alabama A&M, but the Class of 2017 prospect believes Southern Miss, South Alabama and Tennessee State could extend him an offer in the near future.
Jumping from Class 4A competition to Class 7A competition doesn’t worry the newcomer.
“I don’t think it’s a big difference,” said Smith. “I think there are going to be more players with better talent, but size is not going to be a really big difference, because we played some big guys at Leeds. I think I’ll be prepared for when we get started in pads.”
Hewitt-Trussville holds a 28-26 series lead over Leeds. The two schools aren’t scheduled to play this season.