The latest on 2024 D-line targets Jacob and Jerod Smith Jr. after latest Notre Dame visit
Cheshire Academy twins brothers and class of 2024 pass rushers Jacob and Jerod Smith Jr. were back at Notre Dame on Thursday and Friday, their second time to South Bend this calendar year. The Smith twins were also on campus in January with their parents Susan and Jerod Sr, who were on this visit as well.
Clearly, Notre Dame is a strong school under consideration for the twins, who certainly plan to play at the same college.
“The boys wanted to visit some of the schools they were seriously interested in again, and the main focus with Notre Dame was seeing how they practice,” Jerod Smith Sr. told Blue & Gold. “They hadn’t seen that yet.”
And according to the elder Smith, the boys liked what they saw.
“They both said that they love how practice was ran,” he said. “We got there at 6:30 a.m. and went through the whole day. They saw how Coach [Marcus] Freeman does his introduction. He came in very serious but very relaxed and comical at the same time. He had a joke about keeping his hands off the quarterback but also got his point across.
“We saw how the pre-practice meetings go. They saw Coach [Al] Washington break down some film with the defensive linemen, and they thought that was pretty cool. It was an exciting day.”
Friday was a traditional campus visit, while on Thursday, the Smith family had dinner with defensive line assistant Nick Sebastian and Washington, plus his family.
“Coach Washington, his wife and kids came, and one thing that he stresses is the family environment,” noted Smith Sr. “It made it more than football.”
This was the Smith family’s third visit to Notre Dame in total; they’ve gotten plenty familiar with the university. But seeing Washington coach in-person was new for them. There was one aspect of Washington’s leadership style that especially stood out.
“He never said, ‘You did this wrong’ but it was always, ‘I have to help fix that for you.’ It was extremely good coaching methods,” Smith Sr. said. “He wants to help teach his players to do better.”
The Fighting Irish look to be in a good spot for the Smith twins, who are priority targets for the Irish in the 2024 cycle.
“They are,” Smith Sr. confirmed. “They already told Coach Washington and Coach Freeman that they’ll be scheduling their official visit.”
The Smith twins aren’t making hasty decisions with their recruiting process. It’s been well-planned out, and they know their next steps.
The elder Smith noted that this weekend’s trip to Notre Dame was their last unofficial visit. All that’s left moving forward is official visits, and Notre Dame will be one of them. The rest is being kept quiet, for now.
“They know where the official visits will be,” Smith Sr. said.
It’s likely that four of the official visits will come from the boys’ top-10 schools list that they announced a few weeks ago: Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Penn State, Michigan, Ole Miss, Nebraska and Texas. Notre Dame, of course, made that list as well.
This spring has been a busy one for the Smith twins. Prior to Notre Dame, they visited Georgia (March 21), Alabama (March 22), Nebraska (March 25) and Michigan (March 28).
Jerod ranks as the No. 264 overall player and No. 12 defensive lineman per the On3 Industry Ranking, while Jacob is the No. 214 prospect and No. 18 EDGE according to the same metric.
The post The latest on 2024 D-line targets Jacob and Jerod Smith Jr. after latest Notre Dame visit appeared first on On3.
