BRADEN SMITH: Chasing his dreams ... on and off field

[PonyPride]

Braden Smith wants to coach football. He is the son of a high school coach, and has played nearly all his life. But in order to improve his chance of becoming a coach, Smith is going to play again ... when he transfers to Div. I-AA Campbell (N.C.) University at the end of the spring semester. Smith visited with PonyFans.com to discuss his decision, as well as his thoughts about the teammates and coaches he is leaving behind at SMU.

Enjoy!

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[mrydel]

Hard to argue with anything he says. He will have a degree from SMU and a chance to play QB. Smart kid and I wish him all the luck in the world.

[Alaric]

Sounds like a good student, teammate and kid. Always respected him handling his moves (demotions) with grace. Best of luck!

[Corso]

Braden obviously has his priorities in the right order. I don't have kids, but I'd be thrilled to have my nephews play for a coach like Braden Smith.
Good luck, Braden!

[lwjr]

Sounds like someone who will be successful in life. Thank you Braden for all you did in getting the program back on track and good luck at Campbell.

[thegaret]

Good luck to Braden! Thank you for what you have done for the Pony Nation.

[PonyTales]

If I can find a Campbell Camels hat, I'm buying it.
I loved watching Braden play in his limited time on the field. Have a great career at Campbell.
Congratulations on getting a degree in three years (and this is no NTSU/Houston/TCU/UTEP degree, dammit) — that's really impressive. I wish every student-athlete got a chance to go after a graduate degree.
Braden Smith is a very impressive man.

[No Quarter]

Unless others are headed that way, Braden Smith will be the only Texan this fall.

http://www.campbell.edu/

Best of luck to him.

[Peruna 2K5]

Braden's dad, Scott, was the varsity head coach at HP when I was a freshman playing football. He left to be the DB coach at Baylor at the end of that year and I always respected him. Braden will do great things, I'm sure of it.

[mustang addict]

Braden is a class act. He comes from a great family. Besides his father, his grandfather on his Mom's side was a very successful high school coach. Mom was a pretty darn good cheerleader too! Very talented family a well. "The cream always rises to the TOP"

[Vitale]

I hope Braden gets a chance to come back and coach at SMU one day.

[No Quarter]

I checked the Campbell University Football website. This report about their QBs is from last Friday, I think. All infor except about the QB position has been edited for my post. Looks like Braden Smith is in a dogfight. Best wishes to him.

http://www.gocamels.com/ViewArticle.dbm ... M_ID=15300

Quarterback

Quarterback is one of the few positions that Campbell will be lacking starting experience after the graduation of last year's starter Daniel Polk. Polk proved to be one of the top rushing threats in the Pioneer Football League in 2010 with 558 yards on the ground and 12 rushing scores and provided a tough steady presence at the position for Campbell in his two-years as the starting signal caller. The Camels will look to rising sophomore Dakota Wolf and redshirt freshman Jordan Hildreth as the leaders to take over the role of starter this season. Wolf worked as the backup to Polk last season and played in four games. Hildreth did not see any game action, but the Campbell coaching staff is intrigue with his athletic ability enough so that the team plans on potentially working him in the game as a returner this season. Also in the mix this season is redshirt sophomore Nick Potts, true freshman Luke Sirgo and transfer Braden Smith. Smith comes to Campbell and retains a pair of years of eligibility after graduating from Southern Methodist University in the spring of 2011. At SMU, Smith split his time between linebacker, quarterback and on special teams. He is the only current member of Campbell's young group to have scored a collegiate touchdown.

"We are not discouraged at all about where we are at with the quarterback position despite the loss of Daniel Polk to graduation after last season," Steele explained. "We have a more talented pool of players at position than we have ever had before. We certainly were solid in the spring. Dakota Wolf, Jordan Hildreth and Nick Potts all competed well and showed glimpses of what they could do. Then you add in Braden Smith plus Luke Sirgo and you feel like the depth in the position is very strong. We have an identity on this football team and we know what type of player we need to run the offense. In our system we don't necessarily ask the quarterback to win the game. We ask the quarterback to run the offense and all of these youngsters are capable of doing that. I am very pleased with where this position is at this point."

[One Trick Pony]

Smart Kids with paper have good lives.

[PonyFan]

Braden's a very impressive young man who will be very successful, no matter where he goes and what he does.
Good luck at Campbell!