By Harry Minium
Stone Smartt might be the best athlete on Old Dominion's football roster. Clearly, the soft-spoken, ever polite senior from Sacramento, California is among ODU's most unselfish and team-oriented players.
Smartt has been a quarterback since he first picked up a football in grade school. When he played at Del Oro High School in Sacramento, California, he broke five school passing records and led his team to back-to-back state championships.
He was the California Offensive Player of the Year at Riverside City junior college, and started seven and played in 10 games for ODU in 2019.
So, when he learned two weeks ago that he had lost the battle to start at quarterback during his senior year, he said "it was a blow to the stomach."
He knew he wasn't going to play at quarterback, at least not right away. So, during a meeting with head coach Ricky Rahne and offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell, they agreed he should move to wide receiver.
Talk about Smartt decisions.
Although he had never played wide receiver nor returned a kickoff before, Smartt had three receptions for a team-high 26 yards and returned two kickoffs for 52 yards, including a 39-yarder, in ODU's opener last week at Wake Forest. He led the Monarchs with 79 all-purpose yards in the 42-10 loss to the Demon Deacons.
At 6-foot-4 and 232 pounds, Smartt is big, muscular and tough to bring down, but also one of ODU's fastest and most elusive players. Rahne said when he decided D.J. Mack Jr. would start at quarterback, he realized he had to find other ways to take advantage of Smartt's athleticism.
"Stone is a very talented player," Rahne said. "And I couldn't be more proud about how he's responded to this and taken on his new role.
"One of the things I told (wide receivers coach) Mark Dupuis is don't overcoach him. He does a lot of things naturally."
Smartt has good genes -- his father, Sean, and mother Pam, both played basketball at Sacramento State. His parents also taught him humility, that the team comes before the individual and that when you're knocked down, you get right back up.
"I feel like switching to receiver wasn't really that big of a decision for me," Smartt said. "There's a great sense of camaraderie on our offense.
"I knew I could help the team at receiver and I want to do what I can to help this team win games.
"That's the kind of person I am. I wasn't going to fold. You take it on the chin and move on and be the best player you can be."
He said when he moved to wide receiver, that the other receivers "welcomed me with open arms."
"They've been so good to me. They've helped me before practice and after practice."
Teammates have also come up to him privately to express their respect for how he's handled things.
"I take that to heart," Smartt said. "That means a lot.
"That's the way my parents raised me. That's the type of person they want me to be. Just to hear that, it was music to my ears."
Rahne said Mack will start at quarterback Saturday when the Monarchs host Hampton in the first game at S.B. Ballard Stadium in 651 days. Redshirt freshman Hayden Wolff appears to be the backup at this point, but Smartt, Rahne said, remains very much in the running, too.
"A guy who's that intelligent, that athletic, who has played as many football games as he has at quarterback, we're not going to take that away from him," Rahne said.
"We plan on deploying him at a number of different positions throughout the year because of how great an athlete he is and because of his versatility.
"I think his role for us is only going to grow."
NOTES: Senior linebacker Jordan Young had nine tackles and is off to a good start in his quest to become ODU's all-time leading tackler. Craig Wilkins, who started for ODU's first four teams, leads with 340. Young is 85 tackles behind with at least 11 games to go. . . . Thirty ODU players who had never played for the Monarchs played at Wake Forest and 22 played their first Division I game. Three freshmen started and 17 freshmen played. . . . ODU's running game was solid against Wake, with Elijah Davis rushing for 69 yards and Blake Watson 52 yards. And although ODU's passing game struggled, the Monarch offensive line played impressively against an ACC defensive line that returned every starter. . . . Hampton broke open a 28-28 tie in the fourth quarter and defeated Virginia Union, 42-28, in its opener Saturday. The Pirates had 611 offensive yards. Like ODU, Hampton had not played a game since 2019 because of the pandemic. . . . Saturday's game is a "white-out," meaning fans are asked to wear white.
Minium: Decision to Move Stone Smartt to Wide Receiver is Paying Dividends for ODU Football
