Cam Smith – April 28, 2023
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Friday, April 28, 2023
CB Cam Smith
(What was the communication like with the Dolphins in the pre-draft process? Is this a place you thought could be a good chance you’d come to?) – “The pre-draft process, I really didn’t have a lot of talks. They just came to a lot of practices. I already knew the general manager’s (Chris Grier) son was on the team. He was kind of giving me the ins and outs of the league already throughout the whole process. Just (keeping) a clean nose and stuff like that. Just coming into the Combine, we had a formal meeting, and then coming into the Top 30 visit, that was my last meeting I took. It got kind of schedule … so I felt like it was given something on that accord right there.”
(What are your thoughts on coming to a defensive back room, and a cornerback room, with CB Xavien Howard on one side and CB Jalen Ramsey on the other?) – “It’s kind of a blessing. I feel like I was already in that position at South Carolina having Jaycee (Horn) and ‘Izzy’ (Israel Mukuamu) above me when I first came in. Coming in, I just kind of stayed under their wings, learned the ins and outs of what they were doing because they were already successful at that level. Just coming in and doing the same thing with Jalen and Xavien is going to be even better then.”
(What do you know about Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio’s defenses? Obviously he’s pretty storied in the NFL. What did you think of him when you met him in this whole process?) – “Very wise dude. A dude that’s going to get on you about every nook and cranny. Even just one of my steps on one of my plays, he keyed it out, and I really didn’t notice it until he said something about it. Just how he pays attention to details, I love a coach that pays attention to details and wants everything smooth, crisp and ironed out.”
(What do you consider your favorite aspects about the cornerback position? Yourself, playing the position.) – “I feel like my hands, my feet, my hips, and being able to get on top of dudes. Playing even to make sure I can hold a route, and make sure I’m on top at all times. Being able to be in those positions, my hands and feet and hips being all together in one. I feel like that’s the best thing that separates me from a lot of dudes.”
(I wanted to ask you can you take us to the moment when you got that phone call from Head Coach Mike McDaniel, General Manager Chris Grier and Managing General Partner Steven Ross? What was that moment like for you?) – “It was kind of crazy because I was just calling Landon (Grier) because we were just talking about how if I fell late into the second round, it could be that. I was just going off of what he was saying about the process, and then what Chris Grier was saying when I was on my visit. If they had the chance to get me, they would come and get me, and they stayed true to that. Just being on the phone with Landon right before that and seeing them call me with that 954 number, it’s crazy.”
(When you think about going up against in practice WR Jaylen Waddle and WR Tyreek Hill, what do you think about?) – “I think about getting better every day. Going against two of the most feared dudes in the league every day in practice, I don’t have no worries when I get on the field. That’s how I’m going to feel.”
(What was this process like for you? Being able to be at the doorstep of a dream, and I don’t know if you felt like you were being drafted in the first round, but what was it like lasting until the 2nd day?) – “I kind of felt down. When it ended and the last pick came in, I kind of felt down on myself. I was just kind of wondering what was I doing wrong and stuff like that. I was kind of thinking about it, but then at the same time, I think about what God has in store for me, and it’s not just what I want and what I think, it has to have something behind it, and it has something behind it.”
(I’d like to ask you a little bit about the role of your family in your life going back to when you were young as well as now. I understand you have a young daughter. Can you just describe the role that your relatives have had in your life?) – “Really just kind of having that close-knit family – mom, dad, brother, sister, uncles, aunts. Like everybody being close-knit. We’re always coming for Sunday dinner and stuff like that. It was always big so just having them there the whole time and then coming and seeing everybody like in a whole – everybody coming together and like even if they didn’t know me, they didn’t know this person, but they started to meet the whole support system. So just having a whole support system that was way bigger than anything for me, just seeing everybody crying and everybody doing – I wasn’t even crying that much, but I had people crying a lot harder than me. So it just shows how much they cared for me throughout this process.”
(And how is it being a dad? Are you enjoying being a dad?) – “Definitely. There’s a couple of hiccups here and there always, but it’s smooth.”
(Just curious – playing in the SEC – how do you feel like that’s prepared you for the competition you’re about to face within your own division? You got Josh Allen twice a year, you got Aaron Rodgers now twice a year. I don’t know if you’ve even had time to really let that sink in yet.) – “Just feel like – I mean, the SEC is the best ball in college football. I feel like that and I can stand by that. I feel like it’s a lot more dawg in that conference. I feel like a lot more people try to make it. People are not really just playing football just to play football. So I feel like coming from those trenches type of thing. That’s giving me an edge over anybody regardless. I know that edge. I know how to practice, I know where it comes from and what it takes to do those types of things. And every SEC team is basically ran like a pro organization, so I’m already in that doorway.”
(And then one more thing. You’re from Blythewood, right?) – “Yes, sir.”
(Do you have any relationship or do you know of CB Justin Bethel at all? I think he went to the same high school, right?) – “Justin Bethel. I think I’ve heard that name before, but I didn’t graduate (from there) – I graduated from Westwood, though. I graduated from Westwood.”
(I know that you’re capable of playing outside corner, slot corner, and some people even think you can play safety if called upon. What have the Dolphins said about whether they plan to crosstrain you in multiple positions?) – “When we were sitting down in the office, me and (Chris) Grier, we were just kind of wrapping it up about what I wanted to play and how I want to do it. We always know I can play two positions, but just kind of get my feet wet in the league first, getting outside, making sure I can hold it down, do everything I need to do and learn those new techniques that they are going to teach me and stuff like that. And then moving inside a little later, going inside, moving, learning those things and stuff like that. So just kind of gradually going into it.”
(CB Xavien Howard was once also a second-round corner. They picked him out of Baylor. And if you read his scouting reports, back in the day, they said that he can get a little physical – I’m reading this one here on one website – says he can get a little grabby. Tell me about how you balance physicality, being in their back pocket, being handsy, but trying not to get called.) – “Sometimes you’ve just kind of got to watch it, you’ve got to know the receiver that you’re going against. A big stronger dude, you can do a lot more. You’re not really going to do all that flinching and stuff like kind of the little dudes will do and stuff like that where you tug them or pushing and stuff like that. So it’s just kind of just knowing who you’re going against and knowing what you got to do.”
(I wanted to know when you first considered yourself an NFL prospect and how much did that dream drive you every day?) – “I didn’t realize it when I was young, like a lot of people and stuff like that. But I realized it really going into my junior year. So finding out – basically I just started spring ball – I was going to have a kid in the summer. And then it kind of just went from there. I kind of was different every day. I don’t know why, I didn’t really hone-in on why I was different or really think about it. I was kind of going in and doing it every day. So practice was easier. I was making a lot of plays and stuff like that. I saw I was just kind of getting in the groove of feeling like a dominant corner and then coming into the season, I continued the same trend. So it was just kind of that whole season. It just kind of solidified.”
(Did you notice other teams noticing your talent and playing you different or trying to throw things away from you and things like that?) – “Not my 2021 season. A lot more in my 2022 season. I had a lot less targets than my 2021 season, so I feel like I got the respect that I deserve.”
(First, my question to you is more so about Blythewood. Coming from South Carolina, what are you looking most forward to coming to Miami?) – “Always kind of having a little warmth to the weather, no cold fronts and stuff like that. Really just kind of the weather, that’s really the only difference, for real, for me. I don’t really go out like that or get in those type of things, I’m not really that social of a dude.”
(Secondly, your game against Tennessee last year, you were able to shut down the Biletnikoff winner. Do you think that game stood out to you the most last season? What was it about that game?) – “It didn’t stand out to me. I knew I was guarding him from the job since he started snapping. So as soon as he – when we knew it was him on the schedule, I told him, this is two or three weeks in advance, I already told him, ‘We’re going.’ Just having that game, I feel like yeah that kind of boosted everything and stuff like that, but I didn’t put it no extra effort for that. I didn’t do anything extra for that.”
(You stated a lot that you’re a perfectionist about technique and that you’re very comfortable with your backpedal. How does that help you prepare against some of the faster wide receivers in the NFL?) – “A lot of the fast dudes get a lot of people that kind of open up and run a lot, so they’ll already be opened up running, tilted up shoulders and stuff like that. So kind of just being comfortable with my pedal, knowing my speed, knowing what I can do, is going to have me just more comfortable in those situations. If somebody is pressing me hard up the field trying to get run a 15-yard comeback or a 20-yard comeback, if somebody is doing that, for me being able to stay in my pedal and keep my same transition instead of just kind of opening the gate and letting them run and being scared, just having that kind of confidence in my backpedal is going to help me.”
(I wanted to ask you about your relationship with Landon Grier and how much do you think that provided a scouting report for General Manager Chris Grier? How many times do you think you interacted with Chris Grier throughout the course of your career at South Carolina?) – “My relationship with Landon is pretty smooth. We’re not like the best of friends, but every day we’re cracking up, like in the locker room or we’re in the meeting room cracking up. So just something to that extent, but it’s just always kind of been – he was just kind of telling us the ways of the league. He was already – he’s been in it since he’s been little, so he damn near knows more than a lot of people know in the league. So just kind of having that in my back pocket was great. He just kind of led everything the whole time, he always talked good about me every time. They told me about how Landon was telling them about me and stuff like that. He always put in a good word for me, and I’m grateful for him. I’m truly grateful for him. I didn’t really have – my first time meeting Chris Grier was at the Combine at the formal meeting that we had, and the second time when I had my Top 30 visit.”
