From Fast Food to Fast Track: Jaylon Smith's Rise to Superstardom

On his way home from practice one evening back in the fall of 2012, Kyle Lindsay had a taste for Burger King. He turned left out of the Bishop Luers High School parking lot in Fort Wayne, Indiana—the place where he had only recently taken over as head coach—and made the short trek to the fast-food chain around the corner.

When he arrived, he instantly recognized the presence behind the counter. He knew that smile. He recognized the chiseled 225-pound frame—a block of muscle and fast-twitch fibers—even without shoulder pads. An hour earlier, Lindsay was giving this young man guidance on the practice field.

Before Jaylon Smith became one of the best linebackers in the nation at Notre Dame, he worked a mean deep fryer. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to.

"It was so cool to see this big kid with this status—this monster recruit and Mr. Football candidate—serving burgers with that big smile on his face," Lindsay told Bleacher Report. "He didn't have to do that. I'm pretty sure he did that because he wanted to learn some responsibility."

Smith found comfort behind the counter for reasons that are only important to him. Perhaps he foresaw what was coming. Perhaps he realized normalcy would fade away for the bright lights of Notre Dame Stadium.

Life as he knew it has given way for college football superstardom. Normalcy, in that regard, is long gone.

The 225-pound part-time Burger King employee is now a 240-pound science experiment—a man with athletic gifts so unique, so spectacular, that he's seemingly capable of anything. He'll roll right through (or past) your 320-pound linemen one play, then cling to your team's best pass-catcher without a break.

On Saturday night, as the country settles in to watch Notre Dame play Clemson in one of the season's most anticipated games, Smith will dip even further away from normalcy in the brightest spotlight imaginable—a spotlight he was built for.

"He's one of the better players that we've played against since I have been at Georgia Tech," head coach Paul Johnson said prior to the team's Week 3 matchup against the Irish. "He's a definite first-round draft pick. I don't think there's any question about it."

Smith responded to Johnson's praise by somewhat seamlessly forcing and recovering a fumble almost simultaneously against the Yellow Jackets. It was one of those Jaylon Smith moments—a play had two distinct parts that somehow weaved together into one thanks to his athleticism.

Without its starting quarterback, starting running back, starting tight end and key defensive players, Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech 30-22 in its first true test of the season.

Prior to this win, it was Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly's turn to explain his star player's greatness. Not one to typically offer a deluge of individual praise, he didn't hold back when speaking about Smith.

"Short answer," Kelly said before Notre Dame's game at Virginia, "I haven't coached a player like him before. He can line up with his hand on the ground. He can cover the inside receiver. He can play in the box. He can tackle in open space. There's not much he can't do. He's a rare, rare defensive player. It's just fun watching him play."

The origins of this player go back—back to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where Smith took a backseat for some time.

His brother, Rod Smith, seemed destined to become the next great running back in college football. While Rod's skills never translated at Ohio State—thanks in large part to a slew of off-field incidents that ultimately got him dismissed last fall—he, not Jaylon, was the talk of the hometown.

"He [Jaylon] was known as the younger brother of the great Rod Smith when I first met him," Michael Ledo, president and CEO of AWP Sports Training, said earlier this week. "Jaylon was really in his shadow."

Using a combination of weight training, speed training, leadership development and even seven-on-seven teams, Ledo worked with Rod Smith before he went off to college. He has remained a mentor.

Jaylon eventually followed his brother's footsteps and joined the program, although he started by playing seven-on-seven. They traveled the country and participated in various tournaments. Slowly, Smith's profile started to grow. After one particular trip to Pittsburgh for a tournament, however, Smith returned home with a newfound desire to reach his untapped potential.

Image via Michael Ledo

"He saw some real talent, and he told me after that trip that he wanted to be the best player in the country," Ledo said. "It took him outside his area of Fort Wayne, and he saw it. When we came back, he got engaged."

On Saturday nights, Ledo and AWP would host optional leadership classes for its kids. Most attendees weren't Division I prospects. In fact, many of the high school athletes who popped in did so because they wanted to reach that level of competition—as far-fetched as it might have been for some.

But Smith, choosing to forgo the allure of the weekend, became a regular. Now a celebrity, especially locally, his entrance always drew eyes.

"Here comes Jaylon Smith on a Saturday night walking through the doors," Ledo recalled. "The kids would just gaze at him and wonder what the hell he was doing there."

On the field, he continued to grow. Kyle Lindsay, formerly the offensive coordinator at Bishop Luers, took over as head coach shortly before Smith headed off to college during his senior year.

Instead of worrying about how to move the ball against this unique player in practice, Lindsay drew up ways to get Smith the ball during games. Before he became an elite NFL linebacker prospect, Smith was a running back Indiana high schools had to deal with.

"We used him all over the field. I got to coach him as a running back, and that was quite a bit of fun," Lindsay said. "It's a coach's dream to have someone who always finishes downhill. It's a scary thing to see when a kid like this is coming at you."

In his final two years at Bishop Luers, Smith ran for 2,584 yards and 43 touchdowns. Heck, he even caught six touchdowns.

"He hurdled people too," Lindsay added. "One-on-one, he wasn't going to be tackled by anybody. You drool when you coach a kid like that."

During his junior and senior years, Smith also excelled on the defensive side. He recorded 38 tackles for loss and 16 sacks. Quickly, at multiple positions, he developed into one of the most coveted players in the nation.

While he could have played running back at just about any school at the next level—and many programs offered him the opportunity to pick his position—he had his sights set on defense.

Rated the No. 1 outside linebacker recruit by 247Sports and the No. 5 player overall in the 2013 class, Smith decided on Notre Dame not only because it wasn't far from home, but in South Bend, he would be given an opportunity to shine at linebacker.

That's precisely what he has done over the last few years, although statistics fall short of highlighting the sheer range of greatness. The numbers are lovely as is: In 2014, he recorded 111 tackles, nine tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

But dive into the individual moments—like when he spun out of a cut-block against Virginia earlier this year and still somehow managed to make the tackle—and the persona starts to grow larger.

Or the moments when Notre Dame lines Smith up on a team's wideout and he drops into coverage with the fluidity of an elite cornerback. Or how he is seemingly everywhere on the field at once.

"When I watch Jaylon tackle in open space and run people down like a gazelle, it's just normal to me. He does that," Ledo said. "He's probably the best open-field tackler in the country. What impresses me most is just how physical he has become, which people used to question in high school. There is an aggression about him now that has just blown me away."

And yet, as he has added weight and moves to his robust defensive repertoire since he took the short ride to his new home, Smith still embraces his roots.

A few weeks ago, his former high school coach made the trip up to South Bend to watch his former player against Georgia Tech. After a satisfying win many outside the state didn't think was possible, and long after he forced and recovered a fumble in the same movement, Smith hung around the stadium a while to sign autographs.

Lindsay watched as the greatest player he will ever coach interacted with the fans for a period of time he couldn't believe, doing it all with that familiar, trademark smile. As Lindsay watched Smith in his element, a security guard at the stadium told Lindsay that oftentimes they have to pull Smith away. He stays too long.

"Jaylon doesn't want to let anyone down," Lindsay said. "He's going to do everything he can to make their day. He warms up around people."

Perhaps the new normal exists here—in the hours after the spotlight has dimmed, when the stadium lights have finally been shut off and all plays are accounted for. It is here where Smith, regardless of what the future holds at Clemson and beyond, has grown cozy.

No longer a master of the deep fryer or in the shadows of his older brother, Smith has taken to the spotlight quite nicely. And the spotlight, knowing a good thing when it sees it, has embraced him right back.

Unless noted otherwise, all quotes obtained firsthand.