By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Needing more of a physical, downhill runner to fit Baylor's new offensive scheme, head coach Dave Aranda didn't have to look too far.
On the other side of the field was a player who had rushed for a school-record 4,995 yards at Abilene High School. Aranda just had to convince senior linebacker Abram Smith to move back to the position where he started his Baylor career.
"I hadn't played running back in two years, so at first it was like, 'Wow!''' said Smith, who started the last four games at Will linebacker last season when Terrel Bernard got hurt, recording a team-leading 46 tackles in that stretch. "But then, I started talking to (offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes). They needed somebody that could be a physical, downhill runner and get those four yards that we need. So, I signed up."
The ultimate team player, Smith (5-11, 217) switched sides for the second time in his career, with only about a week left in the spring drills. Still wearing a defensive jersey, he ran a few plays in a Saturday scrimmage and then averaged 4.5 yards per carry in Saturday's Green & Gold Game at McLane Stadium.
"He's challenging that room," Aranda said. "You saw today how physical he runs and the track he takes. It's one foot in the ground, cut, vertical. I think he brings us a physicality and an edge that we're looking for."
There's not a lot of dancing or juking with Smith. He can run between the tackles with power, or take it outside, make one cut and get downhill in a hurry.
"You stretch the defense, make one cut and go straight downhill, get physical. Go get dirty," Smith said. "We're building that kind of physicality up front. It's just reading (the defense) and getting physical."
In the wide-zone blocking scheme, Aranda said, the running back can either reach the edge and turn the corner, or"you can push an edge, stick your foot in the ground and get vertical. Abram has that ability."
"He's a good illustration of what we're looking for, but I also think he brings some toughness and some intangibles," Aranda said. "Overall, I think Baylor wins on that and we get better."
With Bernard coming back from an injury, Smith would likely have been in a backup role again at linebacker. At running back, he will challenge for the starting job and will certainly be in running backs coach Justin Johnson's rotation.
"We talk about it all the time in meetings – there's the team, then there's the unit and then there's me," Smith said. "You've got to put yourself last. Of course, when they asked me to go over there and play running back, whatever they asked me to do to benefit the team, is what I'm going to do."
The transition back to running back was a smooth one, Smith said, "it actually clicked pretty fast." Until he moved to linebacker midway through the 2019 season, his only experience on defense came in a brief stint with Abilene's junior varsity team as a freshman in 2013.
"I feel like at first it took some time being on the other side of the ball," Smith said in an interview last fall. "The hitting part took time, because I had to flip over after being used to getting hit."
Playing linebacker the last two years, though, has helped him in the move back to running back, "pretty much knowing where the holes are going to be and where the linebackers are not going to be," he said.
Non-committal on which position he will play in the fall, Smith said he's a running back "for the moment."
As for potentially playing both spots in the same game, he said, "If that's what they need me to do, I have no problem."
After wrapping up its 15-practice spring drills with Saturday's Green & Gold Game, Baylor will now turn its attention to the 2021 season opener Sept. 4 at Texas State. The Bears will also host seven home games in the fall, including BYU, Texas and Oklahoma.
For ticket information, go to the 2021 Baylor Football Tickets link.
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