ANN ARBOR, Mich. — If Mazi Smith looks a little bigger these days, well, it’s because he is.
The 6-foot-3 junior defensive lineman is up to 318 pounds (he’s listed at 326) in anticipation of a more familiar role as the nose tackle in Michigan’s new defensive scheme.
Smith was 320 pounds when he arrived on campus from Grand Rapids in January 2019, but was asked to slim down in order to fit Don Brown’s aggressive, blitz-heavy system.
He was listed at 305 pounds during his freshman season, when he briefly appeared in two games before redshirting, and maintained that weight again in 2020.
“My diet has been very, very strict,” Smith said Tuesday night. “It wasn’t like I wasn’t eating or nothing — but (I had) to get down to 295 or 300. I’m naturally a guy that would be 315-320.”
Now, as Smith puts it, he “just kind of let loose a little bit.”
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The change comes as Michigan’s first-year defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, a former NFL assistant, looks for big-bodied defensive tackles to help plug up the middle. This season, the Wolverines are expected to field a defensive line that includes the 6-foot-4, 310-pound Chris Hinton, 6-foot-3, 325-pound Donovan Jeter, and Smith.
The staff even added Jordan Whittley, a 6-foot-1, 348-pound graduate transfer from Oregon State, to help with depth. But Smith, with seven games and zero starts under his belt, is key to making this thing work.
“He’s completely changed his body to a power pack,” head coach Jim Harbaugh said in July at Big Ten Media Days. “Big, wide, thick, strong. He’s retained his speed, athleticism, his strike, his knock back.
“He keeps getting better every day, getting stronger every day.”
Truthfully, the odd-man front is something Smith is comfortable playing in. He was a nose tackle in high school, and often the biggest player on the field — using his brute strength to maul opposing offensive linemen. Then, he could do both the blocking and tackling. That’s not so easy at the college level, where players are more his size and better skilled.
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But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for Smith — whose role could be crucial if Michigan lines up four linebackers behind him.
“Across the board — the entire D-line has just got to destroy their key,” Smith said. “It’s pretty simple.”
And it’s not just coaches, either, who have taken note of Smith’s transformation from a slimmed-down freshman to a bigger, smarter junior.
“He’s done a great job of taking that next step — changing his body, focusing on his conditioning and other things,” said Hinton. “I think it’s allowed him to take the next step on the field. He’s been playing great. I’m really excited to see what he’s going to do this fall.”
More than two years after Smith arrived at Michigan, amid a chorus of fanfare from nearby East Kentwood High School and praise from recruiting analysts, coaches believe he’s ready to tangibly contribute to a defense that desperately needs him.
“It’s been a long process,” Michigan defensive line coach Shaun Nua said. “He’s dedicated a lot of time. You always hear fans (say), ‘Where’s Mazi? Where is he?’
“Even Mazi knows that he’s ready.”
Read more on Michigan football:
Michigan’s new defense ‘a really good change,’ CB Vincent Gray says
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