Will Muschamp recruited Christopher Smith for South Carolina when Muschamp was the Gamecocks’ head coach. So, he has been to the little charter school Smith attended in Union City in south Fulton County, near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
That means Muschamp knows where Smith “is from,” as they say in these parts.
“Yeah, that was a great practice field at Hapeville Charter you had,” Muschamp cracked when asked about Smith as the Bulldogs’ starting safety sat to his left on the interview podium at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl this week.
Hapeville Charter’s practice field in Hapeville is legendary in the world of football recruiting. It sits next to a busy city street, with only a sidewalk and a MARTA bus stop separating it from North Fulton Avenue. There is way more crabgrass than Bermuda. The only goal post on the field is the old two-post-in-the-ground variety, only this one is made of donated PVC pipe from a local plumber.
But scoff at this school at your own peril. Coach Winston Gordon is known for producing winning teams year after year at Hapeville Charter. The last one Smith was on went 14-1 and claimed the 2017 Class 2A state championship. Seventeen players from that team signed college scholarships. Smith and fellow defensive back William Poole ended up at UGA.
Hapeville Charter’s finest both started for the Bulldogs when they beat Alabama 33-18 in January to win Georgia’s first national championship in 41 years. Poole has left the program, but Smith is in Atlanta this week trying to make Georgia the first repeat champion in football since Alabama in 2012.
“Yeah, I would just say it’s been a long journey, for sure,” said Smith, now a fifth-year senior and defensive captain for the Bulldogs.
Earlier this month, Smith not only made first-team All-American, he was one of only a few consensus All-Americans in the nation. That means he was honored by the majority of recognized outlets that produce an All-American team.
It has been a surprise to all but those who watched Smith compete daily on those roughshod practice fields.
“No surprise,” Gordon said. “You’ve got to realize, Chris has done this his whole life. And we’re used to people taking us for granted around here.”
Now Georgia’s co-defensive coordinator, Muschamp may have lost to the Bulldogs for Smith when he was at South Carolina, but that has given him a unique perspective as he inherited Smith as Georgia’s safeties coach this year. He has a full appreciation for how far Smith has come.
That Smith did this in the “Age of the Transfer Portal” makes his path even more unique. Smith did not start a game for the Bulldogs until midway through his third season. And, then, his chance came only because Richard LeCounte was injured in a serious motorcycle accident and sidelined for the rest of that 2020 season.
“If you ask me, he should’ve been playing at Georgia a little earlier,” Gordon said. “But he was patient and bided his time. He thought about leaving. But I’m always encouraging my guys to stay where they’re at and compete.”
Smith has started every game he has played in since then, missing one because of injury. In between, he has made some of the most iconic plays in Georgia’s past two seasons.
There was the 73-yard interception return that was the only touchdown in the 10-3 win over Clemson to start the 2021 season. Then, there was the 96-yard score off a blocked field-goal attempt against LSU in Georgia’s last game, the SEC Championship game Dec. 3.
Said Muschamp: “I’m a huge Chris Smith fan. Here’s a guy that doesn’t really hit the field till his fourth year, or third year. And in my two years at Georgia, he has played phenomenal, has played outstanding football. Extremely bright, extremely intelligent, very competitive, great leader, a guy that’s really affected people around him in a very positive way. Physical player. I mean, all the intangible attributes.”
Smith has managed to make this progress despite playing for three different defensive backfield coaches. Of course, the one constant has been coach Kirby Smart. A former Georgia safety himself, he takes more than a passing interest in Georgia’s defensive backs.
“He was always a competitor, a great kid, comes from a great family, great high school background,” Smart said. “He’s played corner, nickel, everything we asked. If anything, he’s grown as a leader. … I can still remember him trying to fight guys at practice because I made him run for other guys’ academic problems. He was ready to kill somebody. He’s gotten so much more mature since he’s been here and is just such a great leader. I’m so thankful that he came back.”
Credit: Bob Andres for the Atlanta Constitution
Credit: Bob Andres for the Atlanta Constitution
So is Smith. Already fitted for a championship ring, he contemplated making the leap to the pros after last season. He likely would have gotten drafted and certainly would have landed a free-agent deal with a team. But after piling up 50 tackles, five tackles for loss, three interceptions and seemingly every meaningful defensive play for the Bulldogs this season, he’s not expected to last past the NFL draft’s second day in April.
Smith credits Smart and Georgia’s “development process” for putting him in that position. But he also makes sure to credit those involved in his Atlanta upbringing. His father, Chris Sr., was the Hapeville Charter booster club president, and his mother, Shandra, was an athlete herself and demanding academician. Smith’s brother, T.J., also played at Hapeville Charter and was at Kansas State before recently entering the transfer portal.
“The main people I think about is my parents,” Smith said. “Obviously, they’ve been there from the beginning. They’ve just believed in me and my brother’s dreams. Ever since we were 6 or 7 years old, we wanted to be able to go play college football, make it to the NFL, things like that. My mom and dad did everything they could to help us out on that. They were just all in.
“Growing up, they didn’t always have it the best, so they wanted to make sure me and my brother always had the best and always had the opportunity to succeed.”
Smith, too, fondly recalls Gordon and all the work he did on that ragged old practice field off North Fulton Avenue.
“Yeah, my coaches, from little league all the way to high school, sometimes I feel like I was with them even more than my parents,” Smith said. “So, you know, all the mentorship they were able to give me put me in the right direction. For me to end up here, man, it’s amazing.”
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