By LARRY VAUGHT

Perhaps one of the more interesting redshirt years last season belonged to Matt Smith, who originally thought he would be playing in the defensive line before he was switched to center because of UK’s lack of depth at that position. The move ended any chance he had to play as a true freshman even though he could find himself as a starter next week when UK plays Miami because of the one-game suspension of returning starter Jorge Gonzalez.
“They (the coaches) felt I could do well at center. It was fun working with the first team (defense in practice) and playing the other team’s offense. It was good to go against one of the best defenses in the SEC every week all year,’ Smith said. “We got more reps during the bowl workouts so they could get us on film and give us more feedback. It was a tough year, but it was fun and I am looking forward to finally playing this year.”
Smith has no second thoughts about redshirting because he was moved to offense before he had a chance to see if he thought he could have helped on defense or not.
“I wasn’t on defense long enough to know if I would have been playing this year or not. It was a big help that I got redshirted no matter where I was playing. This way I got used to things and had a chance to get bigger before I went out there to play for real,” Smith said.
The Louisville native had no clue that he was going to switch to offense when it happened.
“The coaches kind of asked me to come over and try. The last time I played center was sixth grade. It took a few days, but I got it back pretty quick and they felt I was doing good enough on my snaps and I was quick enough to play that position, so they kept me there. I’m glad they did because I like the position,” he said.
He got to see plenty of players like Myron Pryor, Corey Peters, Jeremy Jarmon and Ventrell Jenkins in practice as well as middle linebacker Micah Johnson. “Those guys are real cool. They give you a good look and went hard to make us better. We got tremendously better over the season because we had to pick up our speed more and match up to them a little bit. They didn’t complain as they helped us, and I appreciated that,” Smith said. “I had no choice but to get better or get embarrassed.”
Smith even found a way to enjoy game day last yaer even though he was not playing.
“But it was fun to watch the guys out there playing and to be thinking about next year. It makes you that much more anxious to get out there and play with them this year. Or at least that’s what I told myself,” Smith said.
It also helped that he liked the other redshirts who were in the same situation as him.
“We became close working together every day on the scout team. We would hang out on the weekends and we are close friends. It’s easier to work with people you are better friends with because you know they will be there to help you and look after you every day,” Smith said.

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