Joliet Central’s Christian Smith looks poised for big season

Last season, the Joliet Central football team went 0-9.

Things haven’t been easy for the Steelmen since splitting from a united Joliet Township program into a programs at Joliet West and Joliet Central. In that timeframe since the 2010-11 school year, Joliet Central has won six games.

Judging from summer workouts, prospects are looking up for Joliet Central for the 2023 season, and a big reason why is junior Christian Smith.

“We saw a lot last season that, when we were able to get him touches, we were able to move the ball."

—  Thomas Hart, Joliet Central football coach on junior Christian Smith

Smith is primarily a receiver, but coach Thomas Hart has indicated that his team will try get the ball into his hands as often as possible. Smith also will play defense for the Steelmen, but how often he will do that is still in question.

“We want to keep Christian on offense as much as we can,” Hart said. “He is our playmaker. We saw a lot last season that when we were able to get him touches, we were able to move the ball.

“He will still play some on defense in situations where we need him out there, but we want to be able to give him some rest so he’s fresh to play offense for us.”

It doesn’t matter to Smith where he plays, as long as he is on the field. He also welcomes the challenge of being the team’s focal point.

“I am looking forward to kind of putting the team on my back and seeing what we can do,” Smith said after Tuesday’s 7-on-7 competition at Morris. “I am also looking forward to the team all being together. It will be fun to put the offensive line in front and all of us work together.

“I like to be on the field, so I do want to play some on defense. But I understand that I won’t be able to play there all the time, because I need to get some rest for when I am playing offense.”

The program’s last varsity win came in 2019. That is a streak that Smith and his teammates would like to put to an end.

“We have improved a lot since my freshman year,” Smith said. “We keep improving each year, and more guys are taking it pretty seriously. I think we will get in the ‘W’ column this year, for sure.”

Hart is encouraged by Smith’s confidence, and he also sees improvement from the Steelmen, not only in ability but in the sheer numbers of players in the program.

“When I started three years ago, there were four kids in the weight room for the first day of workouts,” Hart said. “This summer, we have had between 32-35 kids at all of our workouts. The numbers are as good as they have ever been since I have been here. It looks like we will have enough players to field a team at all three levels [freshman, JV, varsity] this season for the first time in a long time. ...

“Christian is a great kid and has done a great job as an up-and-coming leader. He is one of those guys that shows up early and stays late, and the other guys notice that. We definitely want to use his ability on the field to help show people what the Steelmen can be.

“On my first day here, I said I was going to count wins and losses as how many kids we can get to go on to the next level. Last year, we had Dermerie Dean sign to play with Quincy. Hopefully that’s the first of many, many more. If we can get kids to improve to the point that they can play at the next level, then the wins and losses will take care of themselves.”