Fellow Harvard transfer Jon Sot raves about new Notre Dame commit Chris Smith
The Harvard-to-Notre-Dame Club is expanding.
On Wednesday, Harvard defensive lineman Chris Smith announced on Twitter he will exhaust his final year of collegiate eligibility at Notre Dame. The graduate transfer was previously committed to Minnesota before flipping to the Irish.
Even more interesting: he is not the first player to make the offseason move from the Crimson to the Irish. Smith joins Harvard punter Jon Sot, who will enroll at Notre Dame this summer after finishing up at Harvard too.
Who better to talk about Smith’s fit at Notre Dame than his good friend and classmate, Sot? BlueandGold.com spoke with the specialist on Wednesday afternoon following the announcement.
“My relationship with Chris is very strong,” Sot said. “We do homework together, we hang out off of the field a good amount. Chris is the biggest guy on the team, one of the strongest guys. He always puts up the biggest numbers in the weight room, and on the field, he’s an impact player. When it’s a third down, Chris makes the play.”
Smith, a native of Detroit, is 6-2 and 293 pounds per the Harvard roster. While the defensive line can be fluid, he is likely to play at nose guard for the Irish. They needed a bigger body in the mix after 6-3, 310-pound interior lineman Aidan Keanaaina tore his ACL.
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Sot stopped short of opining on exactly how Smith would fit into the Irish defense, but he said he was aware of the Keanaaina injury, so picking up Smith made a lot of sense.
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“Chris will be able to fill any role you need him to,” Sot said. “He’s the guy that whatever the coaches ask him to do, he will do it. He will fill in different roles if they need him to. He’s going to make plays for this defense.”
Even better news for the Irish team: Smith is just as great off the field as he is when he steps onto it. Sot would know. They’ve been together for four consecutive years.
“The class of 2022 at Harvard, we’re all really tight,” Sot said. “We met the spring prior to enrolling at Harvard, and since then we’ve been very close. That’s something I’m very fond of.”
Sot continued to gush with positive attributes about his teammate, complimenting his work ethic, humility and selflessness he brings to every situation he enters.
“I only have good things to say,” the punter added.
Smith will graduate with a Harvard degree in human evolutionary biology in May before making his return to the Midwest. The Power Five football life will be a new one for the lineman to navigate, but he will have a familiar face there each day with him. And no one is more excited than Sot.
“I’m so happy he’ll be coming with me to Notre Dame. We’ll be playing another year of football together, just in different colors.”
