How Nick Saban's voice still drives Notre Dame football DB DeVonta Smith
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SOUTH BEND —Notre Dame football nickelback DeVonta Smith, set to play in his fifth game of November after a frustrating first two months, can still hear Nick Saban’s voice from time to time.
“When you have good eyes, you have good feet,” the coaching legend would say over and over to his defensive backs.
An Alabama grad transfer who was a reserve on Saban’s final three teams, Smith was the beneficiary of wisdom from one of the sport’s greatest tacticians. Before joining the ESPN “College GameDay” set, Saban would often jump into the defensive back drills.
That’s the position he played at Kent State and the primary emphasis of his assistant coaching career.
“Everything he’s taught me, I try to take in and use for my benefit,” Smith said Monday after practice. “Definitely one thing he always harped on was having good eyes.”
Meaning?
“In man coverage, my eyes being low, to the hip or to the number, however you want to play it,” Smith said. “Having great leverage because receivers try to fake you out. They’re impostors — not to be trusted. You definitely have to lock in with the details.”
Healthy again after a nagging calf injury caused him to miss all but seven snaps of a five-game span, Smith is showing why the Irish brought him in as the latest in a string of experienced nickel imports. He’s following Oklahoma State transfer Thomas Harper (2023) and Arizona State transfer Jordan Clark (2024).
“I’m very technical in how I prepare before the play,” he said. “Once the play happens, you just start and you just go, but you get a lot of your work done before the play starts.”
DeVonta Smith benefits from Andy Buh’s coaching experience
Since arriving at Notre Dame, Smith has honed his technique under defensive backs coach Mike Mickens and senior defensive analyst Andy Buh, who primarily works with the nickels.
A former defensive coordinator at Stanford (2008-09), Nevada (2010-11), California (2013), Maryland (2016-18) and Rutgers (2019), Buh, 52, worked with Irish DC Chris Ash at both Rutgers and Wisconsin (2012).
“Coach Buh is an extremely detailed guy,” Smith said. “I’ve never been taught so detailed in my run coverage, my hand placement, my eyes, in playing the different coverages that we play. He’s just brought so much to me to help me stay detailed in my game.
“My pre-snap reads, getting all those down, learning all that, he’s allowed me to reach that next level as a football player. I’m tremendously grateful that I have him with me right now.”
Freshman Dallas Golden could say the same about Smith, who took an active interest in prepping the Tampa product on the fly after he moved to nickel a few days before the Purdue game.
“Oh, man, he has a bright future,” Smith said. “That kid is extremely special. I love him. He’s a guy that I took under my wing when he came here (in June). Very special, very talented, very athletic.
“I was extremely proud of the way he came in after I got hurt and how he’s played. Everything wasn’t perfect, but he’s learned a lot of lessons. … He’s going to be one of those guys – the next guy to come out of here that’s very, very special.”
Golden had never played inside before, but he made a leaping interception in the flat against the Boilermakers that still has Smith shaking his head in admiration.
“Dallas is very smart,” Smith said. “The slot nickel position is very difficult to learn. You’re in the run game, the pass game, you’re covering, you’re blitzing. You’re doing a whole lot of things. You’re basically like a covering linebacker. You do everything.
“Dallas is very smart with learning the run fits, which could be very difficult for a young player who has no experience. To just go out there in the game and do it … you have to be a special player. Dallas has all those tools to do whatever he wants to do when his time comes.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football defensive back DeVonta Smith is making an impact
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