When new Liberty head football coach Jamey Chadwell was hired and had a chance to review his roster, one thing became apparent to him – the Flames would need some additional help at wide receiver for 2023.
Liberty is losing 149 receptions, 1,724 yards, and 13 touchdowns from last year’s receiving corp. That’s over 60% of the total team’s production a season ago. Couple that with a brand new coaching staff and offensive system, and the Flames needed some additional bodies to help in the passing game.
Chadwell would reunite with Tony Washington, hiring the West Virginia wide receivers coach to join him in Lynchburg to help lead the position group. One of the first things the new Liberty receivers coach did was call one of his former receivers with the Mountaineers who had entered the portal, Reese Smith.
“We had a great relationship,” Smith said of his receivers coach at West Virginia who is now in the same position at Liberty. “When I was there, I told him I was leaving. That was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make, telling him in person, that was a tough conversation I knew I was going to have to have.”
The 5’10”, 187 pound Smith caught 19 passes for 205 yards and a touchdown in 2022 for West Virginia. He was used as a wideout and a punt returner during his time with the Mountaineers. Originally from Danville, Kentucky, he appeared in 33 games and caught two touchdown passes.
“I was in the portal a couple weeks,” Smith recalled. “He sent me a text and gave me a call and was like, ‘I’m going to Liberty, would you be interested?”
After Coach Washington asked Reese if he would be interested in joining him at Liberty, Smith knew he had to visit the school in Lynchburg. After taking a visit, Smith had made up his mind that he was going to follow his position coach to Liberty.
“This was the last visit I took,” Smith said of his trip to Lynchburg. “I came, I saw what the staff was about. I could tell they weren’t trying to impress me, they were being real with me and the way they wanted to use me. I respected that.”
Deciding to leave WVU wasn’t an easy decision for Smith. It was one he grappled with for a while, but he ultimately decided a change of scenery was what would be best for him.
“I had so much respect for that staff and Coach (Neal) Brown,” he said. “Some of my best friends are at West Virginia. Leaving them was a hard decision for me because I’m not necessarily a person that wants to leave something that I’ve built. I prayed about it. I felt led that this was the right decision for me.”
With the loss of Demario Douglas and Shedro Louis adjusting to not only the new offense but a new position at receiver, playing time in the slot is wide open, and Smith will have plenty of opportunities to seize control of those chances.
“I bring a lot of leadership to the receiver room,” said Smith of his strengths. “I can lead by example, not necessarily my words but my actions. I’m a smart player, really good at running my routes, getting open, and just bringing to the table what this offense needs. I think I fit the role that the slot is and what they’re looking for.”
