Once again the Dartmouth football team has snared a top transfer student from a top college football program. Tailback/fullback Greg Smith, a transfer from the University of Missouri, will be eligible to play next fall.
This is the third year running that Dartmouth has received a Division I-A transfer student. In the past two years, Dartmouth has picked up two players from Colorado State, tailback and co-Captain Pete Oberle '96 and quarterback Jerry Singleton '96.
According to NCAA rules, because Dartmouth is Division I-AA, a division lower than both Colorado State and Missouri, all three of these players became eligible to play immediately.
Smith, who will join the class of '96, measures six feet even and weighs in at 210 pounds. In his two seasons at Missouri, Smith caught 12 passes, eight his freshman year for 105 yards and four his sophomore year for 18 yards. During his freshman year, he also rushed five times totaling 13 yards, while he had no rush attempts during his sophomore year.
Smith has had a good model to follow. His father is Jackie Smith, a Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end who played with both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys in his 16-year career in the NFL.
The football team wrapped up its spring practice in its annual Green-White scrimmage Saturday, pitting members of the team against each other.
The scrimmage gives coaches and players alike valuable information on what they have learned in practice up until that point.
"Judging from spring ball, we're way ahead of where we were at this time last year," Oberle said. "The offensive line has come together a lot better. They were all relatively new last year. They have a little experience under their belt. The defense has also made a lot of progress."
So what have the coaches learned?
For one thing, the coaches have seen how players have been doing in their respective positions.
"Overall I was quite pleased, particularly with the offense," Head Coach John Lyons told The Valley News. "There were some good signs out there. I think we are much improved from where we were last year offensively. We're not where we need to be defensively, but we have some kids banged up, so it's hard to get a look there."
Ren Riley '96, after being out most of last season with a broken arm, returned to practice as a quarterback, along with Jerry Singleton '96, Jon Aljancic '97 and Peter Sellers '98.
"Each of the quarterbacks did some good things in terms of checking plays and that type of stuff. We did some good things in the passing game and some guys made nice catches," Lyons said.
"Spring ball was a lot more important because we've made a lot of changes," co-Captain Taran Lent '96 said. "We have a whole new defense that we are using. Offensively we're changing as well."
"We are really excited at how well the offense played. Our offensive line was really young last season. I think they are going to surprise quite a few teams," Lent said.
As the spring season ends, the football team rolls into its summer workout schedule. "The sophomores are on for the summer. About five of the seniors are staying on for the summer as well," Lent said.
The team has a rigorous workout schedule for the summer, including lifting four days a week and running as a team three days a week. The entire team is expected to do the same workout whether the players are on or off-campus.
"Next season not many people are expecting much from the team, especially in the [Ivy] League," Lent said. "But we had a lot of players hurt last year and we've had some young players who have worked really hard this year. We're really going to surprise some teams."
