Gehrig Dieter is not where he expected to be. While the rest of his class finishes its last semester at Washington High School in South Bend, Ind., Dieter finds himself on the practice field with his new teammates at SMU.

Freshman receiver Gehrig Dieter is taking part in spring workouts at SMU after graduating from high school a semester early (photo by Washington HS).

Being at practice isn’t a surprise; Dieter graduated early so he could enroll early at SMU take part in spring workouts. But after offseason surgery, Dieter said he expected to be an interested observer at the Ponies’ practice this spring, not a participant. Dieter tore the meniscus in his right knee on the last play of a game in which he drew national notoriety for racking up a jaw-dropping 447 receiving yards. Rather than sit out his final season in high school, he gritted his way through the pain and didn’t have the injury repaired until he arrived at SMU.

“I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t want to have surgery then if I didn’t have to,” Dieter said. “The week after I hurt it, I didn’t practice, and my coach basically used me the next week as a decoy because I couldn’t run too well.”

Dieter soon returned to his role as a key weapon in the WHS offense, although he played the rest of the regular season with his knee in a brace, which he shed before his team began the state playoffs.

“It mostly hurt when I was on the right side of the field, pushing off on my right leg,” Dieter said. “When I was on the left, it felt pretty good. They moved me around a lot, so defenses didn’t know where I’d be, but it definitely felt better when I was on the left.”

Dieter had the tear repaired in early February, and his rehabilitation went well enough that he was able to take the field with his new teammates when spring workouts began last week. So now, rather than standing and watching, he is running drills and getting first-hand instruction from new receivers coach Jason Phillips.

“He’s a really good coach,” Dieter said. “He’s really intense and obviously pays attention to detail on everything we do — the way we line up, the way we get off the line, the way we catch the ball. I like him a lot.”