RYAN SMITH
Coming from small town North
Dakota, what is some advice
you have for kids to overcome
adversity with Division I
dreams?
Ryan had a
decorated career
at NDSU. He was
named to three
All-Missouri Valley
Football Conference
Second Teams in
his four years as a
Bison. Ryan broke
into the lineup his
freshman year as a
returner. He made
the position swap
from running back
to wide receiver his
sophomore year and
quickly became the
FCS equivalent to
Ryan's hero, Denver
Broncos' receiver
Wes Welker.
54 games played
1,783 total yards
14 touchdowns
33 yards/game
8 receiving TD’s
“It doesn’t matter how small of a town
you are from or what sport you play,
it’s just about how hard you work at it.
If you have a dream, you have got to go
chase it. That’s what I did and I worked
my butt off to get where I am today and
everything has paid off so far.”
What are the three most
important things you could tell
someone who wants to play
college football?
“Number one is, have big dreams.
Two is, work hard. And three, don’t let
anything stop your dream.”
Were there people who said you
wouldn’t make it at NDSU?
“There was definitely some people who
doubted me. But, like I said, hard work
always pays off. That was my mentality
coming into NDSU. If I work my butt
off, maybe I’ll become a great player.”
What do you say to that kid
that might be shorter or might
not be quite as fast?
“I always told myself — I may be one
of the shortest people on the field, but
you need to play big. You need to play
with a lot of energy, a lot of effort, a lot
of motivation. You have to get physical
with people who are bigger than you
because then they’ll run away as soon
as you do. You just have to think that
you are bigger than everyone else. The
game of football is a physical game;
you just have to pay attention to all the
details.”
Is it important for kids to go
to camps to be seen by the
coaches?
especially when you are younger in
high school. Coach is going to see
talent whether you’re a freshman, a
sophomore or a junior.”
How important is it to keep
your social media clean and
keep good character off the
field? Coaches look at that
stuff, right?
“Oh yeah, definitely. Character is
probably one of the most important
things. When I talked to Coach
Klieman, he said the guys he wants to
recruit for NDSU is very high character
guys. The people good in class, the
people that are able to learn the
playbook, people that will be football
smart. He wants high character guys
that will give their heart and soul to the
program.”
The culture at NDSU is
changing. The tailgating is
changing, the atmosphere
is changing. What do you
see as the future for NDSU
interacting with kids?
“I think it’s progressing really well. You
know, every year we have some sort
of camp, youth camp or Junior Bison
Club. It’s good for the community
to have the players reach out and it
just shows how the Bison name is
representing North Dakota. How hard
we work, and we give them some drills
that we do that they can practice and
hopefully they’ll develop into great
players by the time they get to high
school for NDSU recruiting.”
What did your high school
coach say when you made the
decision to come to NDSU?
“My high school coach was excited for
me. He thought I could play up there. ...
Because he knew I was a hard worker.
He knew I would do anything to get
playing time.”
“I would say it’s really important. Just
so you can get your name out there,
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