Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FUTURE PRO Smith returned home to Knoxville, Tenn., and moved in with personal trainer Charles Petrone, whose wife put Smith on a strict diet. In the cold mountain winter, the Petrone family pool became Smith's cold tub after grueling, daylong workouts inside the Petrone Training facility. Smith had the drills he'd be asked to perform at the NFL Scouting Combine down pat. His body was resculpted and stronger than ever. He sought out ad- vice from former teammates who had been through the combine. He was ready to turn heads from Feb. 22-28 in Indianapolis. When Smith left Lucas Oil Stadium, immediately began preparing for the next chapter of his life. There was no time to sulk, which the safety rarely did in the five years he spent in South Bend. There was only the next chal- lenge, more work to be done for the former Notre Dame captain. With his eye on the 2012 NFL Draft, H the major concern about Smith was his speed. A 4.57-second 40-yard dash time settled that debate. Once he turned in the top three-cone time (6.63 seconds) and the second-best 20-yard shuttle time (4.12 seconds) among safeties, most experts felt Smith had improved his stock so much that he would likely go in the second round after being pegged as a middle-rounder. Smith, who finished his Irish career with 187 tackles (18.5 for loss) and seven interceptions, thought he could have done better. 16 APRIL 2012 strong combine BY WES MORGAN Harrison Smith should reap rewards from arrison Smith left Orlando, Fla., after Notre Dame's loss to Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 28 and Smith moved in with his personal trainer, resculpted his body and put forth a strong performance at the perience," he said. "I felt like I got a lot of things done that I wanted to, and the only thing that I'm really disap- pointed about is that I wanted to run a little faster. I think teams thought I would run worse than that. It was still a win, but I know I can run faster than that what I ran. "I kind of had to tweak my start. I "The NFL Combine was a good ex- he had accomplished his goal. Like wide receiver Michael Floyd, didn't know there would be rules at the start with where you could put your foot. I had been practicing the wrong thing for that. There are three different lines and your foot can't go past the third line and your hand can go on the first line. I had been put- ting my foot right where my hand is. When they told me that, I was like, 'Oh, God.' " That was just one of many surprises Smith experienced in Indy, where un- suspecting NFL hopefuls deal with several curveballs in order for teams to see how they respond. "I didn't realize it was going to be so coaches and general managers went well. His high school experience as a Tennessee state champion in the de- cathlon helped him be able to focus on individual drills. Though he graded well, Smith wants to try and improve his marks at Notre Dame's Pro Day on April 3. But looking back, he feels as if he handled the pressure-packed situation well. "There are some things, if I would draw blood. You take a drug test right then and you get X-rays and medi- cal stuff. Then you do informal meet- ing with teams all night until 11 p.m. Then they woke me up at 5 a.m. Sun- day morning to take another drug test. It's just a process to try and wear you out, test you mentally, physically, psychologically and emotionally, and see how you perform at the end after you deal with all that stuff. It's kind of like going through a season — just constant pressure." Smith said his meetings with scouts, draining," Smith admitted. "Through- out the whole four-day process they throw in a bunch of extra stuff that you didn't know you were going to have to do. They kind of try and wear you out to see how you perform un- der pressure. "Right when I got there, I got to the have known about them before, I could have prepared for better," he said. "But that's part of the test. How are you going to adapt to it? How are you going to make it work? Overall I think it was a success. "My results were solid, but at the hotel and they took me to do a leg test, then they took me to the hospital to NFL Combine, which could result in him being selected in the second round of the NFL Draft in late April. PHOTO BY TAHETIA PETRONE end of the day, you want to be first in all of them. It's a lot to ask. That's why you play... to be the best. It's hard to be completely satisfied." ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED