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The evolution of Fish Smithson: From spectator to defensive leader
File Photo/KANSAN
Now-senior safety Fish Smithson greets the Kansas basketball team as the football captains enter Memorial Stadium on Sept. 12 2015.
▶ SEAN COLLINS
@Seanzie_3
A group of defensive backs stood on Kivisto Field, catching their breaths with their hands on their hips at the end of a coverage drill. They gathered around senior safety Fish Smithson, listening as the senior spoke and shared tips.
Here, on the Kansas football practice field, is where Smithson has become a leader. After two years as one of the best safeties in the Big 12, the defensive backs have good reason to listen intently to Smithson and his lessons in practice.
It took time, however, along with a willingness to do whatever the team needed on and off the field for him to get to this leadership role.
Kansas wasn't even on Smithson's radar initially. He declared to Navy
straight out of high school, and then transferred to Hartnell College. Playing in the Big 12 never seemed like an option.
Then, during his freshman year at Hartnell, Smithson led the squad to a 9-2 season and a conference title, which led to his recruitment and eventual offer from the Jayhawks.
When players are afraid to tell coaches they are confused or need guidance, they go to Smithson. By now, the coaching staff has learned to put a lot of trust into the safety, now going into his senior year.
"Fish is a go-to guy for all the [defensive backs]," defensive coordinator Clint Bowen said. "If they have a question they will go to Fish and he will have the answers. He leads in a lot of ways like that and on the field he's made a lot of plays and done some things you feel more confident standing next to that guy."
In 2015, Smithson had the most regular season solo tackles in Division I college football and solidified his spot as the defensive anchor of the Jayhawks. But years earlier, Smithson was just a spectator watching his older brother, Shaky, do the same at Utah.
Fish lived with Shaky during his time at Utah and learned to play college football through his brother, which helped him become such a defensive anchor. From Shaky, Fish learned the ups and downs of the college game, an experience most players don't get until they reach that level themselves.
worker, but now it falls to Fish.
Fish's rise as a dominant safety came to no surprise to Shaky, who eventually made it to the NFL for a stint with the Packers. At one time, pressure may have been on Shaky to be a sturdy role model and hard
"I think the pressure is on him being the younger brother of a professional football player," Shaky said. "For me it's about making the mistakes for the both of us so he knows what not to do."
At the end of 2015, when Fish was told he led the Big 12 in total tackles, and was second in the NCAA in solo tackles, he wasn't at all elated. The Jayhawks had just gone 0-12. What many saw as an accomplishment was essentially meaningless for Fish. His team was winless.
"That has been what this whole offseason has been about," Shaky said. "What can he do better to get more wins for the team?"
Despite his brother's success, Fish is still out build his own reputation and remains his toughest critic.
"I hold myself to a really
high standard. I like to go back and look at what I can fix," Fish said. "Even if I led the NCAA in tackles, I still look at all the ones I missed. I do look at those more than the plays I made."
In the early season practices, Fish has already had to show composure and maturity to the younger players when practice gets rough. That's exactly why they group up around him.
"It's my job to go out there sometimes and let guys know that this drill is competitive right now but on the next one we can't be having that," Fish said.
While Fish has been able to witness all levels of football as a result of his brother's success, improving the Jayhawks' team and making the pros is still a steep slope to climb. The Jayhawks went winless in 2015, but did have their moments. In a 23-17 loss to ranked TCU, the Jayhawks
showed that they could play with any team in the Big 12, but inside the team, they already knew that.
"If you watched our practices you would never know the type of season that we had," Fish said. "We weren't surprised at all. We go into every game thinking we are going to win."
Fish's play has improved in each year at Kansas and this is no coincidence. From season to season, Fish has improved his tackling stats and has earned an All-Big 12 second team pick. If anything is changing about Fish's play, it's that he's consistently getting better.
That consistency goes back to something that Shaky has told him since he learned it in the NFL.
"From the meeting room to the field, you have to be the same guy," Shaky said. "Consistency is everything."
Safety Fish Smithson gestures as he returns a long interception.
File Photo/KANSAN
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