Reese Smith overcoming multiple knee injuries to make big impact for Liberty

When Jamey Chadwell took over as Liberty’s head coach following the 2022 season, he targeted Tony Washington as his wide receivers coach. Washington and Chadwell worked together for two seasons at Coastal Carolina before Washington left for West Virginia.

When Chadwell hired Washington to his staff at Liberty, the receivers coach had one person he wanted to make sure followed him to Lynchburg – Reese Smith.

Smith saw playing time in 33 games over three seasons at West Virginia. He finished his time with the Mountaineers with 42 receptions for 457 yards and two touchdowns, seeing his catches and yards increase throughout his career.

When Smith got to Liberty, the Flames had tons of questions on the entire time but especially at receiver. The 5’10” native of Danville, Kentucky, Smith had a fabulous spring in 2023 and looked poised to be one of the Flames’ top receiver targets entering his first season in the program.

That all changed in the summer. As he was preparing for the upcoming season, Smith tore his ACL and meniscus in his knee. It would cause him to miss the entire 2023 season.

“Devasted,” Smith said recently of his demeanor following the injury. “Bad head space for most of the time, was down and out.”

He watched on the sidelines while Liberty had a record season, finishing 13-1, CUSA Champions, and advancing to the Fiesta Bowl.

All the while, Smith was rehabbing and working his way back to full speed. As he eyed a 2024 return, Smith was limited this past spring. As the weeks and months continued, he got cleared and was starting to feel like himself again.

Then, before summer workouts a few months ago, he had another setback. Smith tore the same meniscus he did a year prior causing him to miss all of summer workouts and not be a full go at the start of training camp.

“It’s hard not to get down on yourself,” he explained. “The mental aspect of it, I didn’t know how big of an affect it was going to take. I just had to keep my head up.”

Smith kept working. He kept striving to get back on the field, not knowing how his knee would respond or how he would handle it mentally.

As the Flames got toward the end of training camp ahead of the season opener on August 31, Smith was back on the field and able to begin practicing with his team once again.

After missing 14 games in 2023 and having not seen game action since late in 2022, Smith was able to put on the pads and uniform for Liberty’s season opener against Campbell. He didn’t record any stats that day, but he was able to be back on the football field competing.

“Being patient is one of the words I live by,” he said of his long journey since becoming a Flame. “This is the true definition of it.”

In week two at New Mexico State, Smith finally recorded his first catch at Liberty. He finished that day with two receptions for 23 yards and also hauled in a two-point conversion pass in the final minute of the game to help the Flames to the 30-24 win.

“The New Mexico State game was when I realized my knee is good,” he said. “It’s time to go. It’s time to roll and do your part and help this team win.”

The next week, at home against UTEP, Smith hauled in his first pass in a game at Williams Stadium and the longest he has this season, coming for 28 yards.

Then, last week against East Carolina, he was a key part in helping Liberty crawl out of a 17-0 hole and pick up a 35-24 win to stay unbeaten on the season. Smith had 6 catches for 80 yards and 3 touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns put the Flames in the lead.

“I’m happy for him because if you’ve ever had an injury and then redo it, it gets in your head and you start questioning whether I can do this,” Chadwell said of his Smith following the win over the Pirates. “If you’d have seen just the joy, I’m going to cry a little bit, the joy in his eyes when he made that, it was pretty special, pretty special.”

The Flames and Smith think he could just be scratching the surface of his potential. With his injuries and missing so much practice time, there hasn’t been many opportunities for him and Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter to work on their connection. Now, they are starting to build that trust in each other on the field.

“I trust him,” Smith said of his quarterback. “I know he trusts me. We just gotta find that connection. (ECU) was a big step in the right direction. That first touchdown catch was like knocking down a barrier.”