Houston Quarterback Donovan Smith Impressed by Freshmen Receivers, Proud to Stay With Willie Fritz — Inside the Evolution of a Playmaking Signal Caller

When University of Houston quarterback Donovan Smith is asked if anyone has surprised him on this UH offense, he considers the question for a beat, like he’s reading the defense at the line, before delivering a decisive answer. “The first ones that come to the top of my head are our freshmen,” Smith tells PaperCity. “We have two freshmen wide receivers doing very well — Koby Young and JayShon Ridgle. They’ve been great.

“They definitely are two guys that have a lot of potential. Kind of just like that freshmen thing, they’ve got to get used to college football, learning the plays and stuff like that. Then they’ll be exceptional.”

Smith sees both Young and Ridgle as potential difference makers this season. With all the questions marks surrounding Houston’s receiving corps after the Cougars’ two most talented pass catchers — Matthew Golden (University of Texas) and Sam Brown (Miami) — both transferring out in the Willie Fritz new coach transition offseason, Smith remains unbowed. In fact, Houston’s senior QB sounds downright excited about the receivers he will have to work with and potential he sees in a Willie Fritz and Kevin Barbay offense.

In a college football world of today where the best players are almost expected to transfer after a coaching change, Donovan Smith tells PaperCity he quickly decided he’d stay at the University of Houston with Fritz.

“I’m not really into getting up and leaving just when shit hits the fan or something like that,” Smith says. “I just took a second to analyze the coaches, to decide if I liked them or not. I just felt like they were the perfect fit. They were big family guys. They were very vocal about what they wanted to do. What the expectations are for us.

“So I thought that was the perfect fit for me.”

Now Smith is doing everything he can to get Houston’s receivers in sync, from an underrated returning talent like Joseph Manjack to a four star recruit from New Orleans like Koby Young, who had offers from Alabama, LSU and UT. For Smith, every moment he can spend with his receivers is invaluable.

“Just kind of trying to do stuff off the field,” Smith says. “Even if it’s just like playing the games with somebody. Playing (Call of Duty) Warzone or like now that NCAA (the EA Sports college football video game) is out, everybody’s playing that.”

So Donovan Smith makes sure that when he plays video games, he’s playing with his UH teammates. Smith has already told the Cougar receivers to be ready to stay after practice regularly too. That’s not only for extra throwing to work on timing with the receivers, but also to rerun plays themselves that didn’t go well in practice that day.

Several of Smith’s Houston teammates brought up the difference they see in the starting quarterback now compared to last season, Smith’s first at UH, unprompted during the team’s three day pre-camp media days.

“Donovan got way better,” senior right guard Tank Jenkins tells PaperCity. “His mindset changed a lot from last year. He got faster. He got stronger. He’s more diverse. Even more diverse in his game. He’s ready to show some people. I can’t wait to block for that guy.”

“I’m not really into getting up and leaving just when shit hits the fan or something like that. I just took a second to analyze the coaches, to decide if I liked them or not. I just felt like they were the perfect fit. They were big family guys. They were very vocal about what they wanted to do. What the expectations are for us.” — UH quarterback Donovan Smith

The Donovan Smith Equation

For UH football to have any chance to surprise on the field this season, Smith must become a next level quarterback, Not much is expected in this Willie Fritz first season of a program makeover with Las Vegas oddsmakers putting the Cougars’ over-under for wins at four and Houston getting tabbed to finish 15th in the now 16-team Big 12 in the preseason media poll. If anything can possibly shift that equation, it’s an experienced dual threat quarterback on a mission.

The 6-foot-5 Smith underwent surgery for a labrum injury in his throwing shoulder after last season (after playing through the pain and never complaining about it or using it as an excuse in the closing stretch of the season). That kept UH’s quarterback out of the on-field part of spring practices. But Donovan Smith still used the time to get better. He’d stand behind the quarterbacks on most offensive plays, almost like a friendly ghost QB, and go through the defenses in front of him, running through all his checks in his mind.

“One of the things I wanted to make better for myself — or improve on — was definitely in the film room,” Smith says. “That’s one of the things I got to focus on this offseason. Spring kind of taking a step back and seeing things in a bigger picture almost. Standing behind the (playing) quarterback, I’d see all the defenses and what they might do.

“Just being able to get on the board and just perfect the play, that’s all I’ve been doing all spring. And that’s been very helpful to my game where I can now just go out there and play without really having to think about anything.”

Smith says he likes how Barbay, the former Appalachian State offensive wizard, and quarterbacks coach Shawn Bell challenge him to step up to the play board and diagram plays.

Donovan Smith’s increased confidence at the play board coincides with increased responsibility — and trust — in this Fritz and Barbay offense. Houston’s quarterback will be allowed to change plays at the line of scrimmage this season when he feels he needs to or sees something.

“I feel like it’s perfect, really,” Smith says of how the new offense fits his game. “Just being able to go under center if we have to, being able to get out of the pocket, being able to move the pocket, having the ability to change protections, having the ability to change plays if I need to, I feel like it works for me perfectly. And then sets me up very well for the next level.”

A next level Donovan Smith could change plenty for this UH football team.

This is part of a series of stories on University of Houston football as it heads into its first season under Willie Fritz. Come back to PaperCity and bookmark this page for more. Follow Baldwin on Twitter here.