JOHNSON CITY — Done with his weekly obligations with the media, East Tennessee State coach Will Healy called out Yasir Smith as the coach left the room
“Yasir!” Healy said “You’ve earned this opportunity.”
Smith quietly thanked his coach, and then sat behind the microphone. Back when this football season began, Smith was not a candidate for interviews. He was one of dozens of new players to the roster for 2026, and among the more than 20 who joined the Bucs through the transfer portal.
Smith, who was part of the North Carolina program as a true freshman but did not play there, had a bit of a breakout in the 38-0 shutout of VMI. He made two tackles, one for loss, and was generally disruptive on the defensive front, so much so that, during his Monday media remarks, Healy singled out Smith and Josiha Mason for their performance against the Keydets. As a group, the Buc defense generated three sacks, eight tackles for loss, and held VMI to 143 total yards of offense. In addition to the negative plays, the Keydets were held to 0-3 yards on 18 of their 42 offensive snaps.
“I think that to me, our defensive line in general played exceptionally well. And to hold those guys doing what they do to zero points, it starts up front and I thought our defensive line was awesome,” Healy said.
Coming out of the bye week, Healy spoke about more younger players getting opportunities on offense and defense during this stretch run — partly to manage load and keep key guys healthy, but partly because some of those youngsters had earned chances. One of those young players appears to be Smith, a formidable physical presence at 6-4 and 272 pounds.
“Yasir in general, to me, just going from where he’s been to now becoming an integral part of our defense,” Healy said. “You enjoy when really good human beings work really hard and get rewarded. And to me, that’s him. He’s been exceptional since he got here.”
Smith, a product of Summerville, S.C., flipped his commitment from East Carolina to UNC on the February signing day in 2025. Coach Bill Belichick and his staff switched Smith from defense to tight end; either way, Smith’s time in Chapel Hill was short. He left the team in late October of 2025, with an intent to enter the portal.
“I feel like the biggest thing for ETSU was the culture,” Smith said, adding, “It’s just the way you get treated when you’re here. You can walk outside, somebody has the ETSU football shirt on. You know, it’s just the environment. The switch that I made from being there to being here, it’s just like, it’s a lot more love here.”
As Smith has emerged as a contributor for the Bucs, the ETSU defensive line has been more disruptive in general as the season elapsed. In the Bucs’ first four games against Campbell, Division II Tusculum, North Carolina, and West Georgia, ETSU’s defense generated three sacks and 16 tackles for loss (4.0 per game).
In the next four games — all against Southern Conference opponents — ETSU has tallied 12 sacks and 31 tackles for loss. Healy on Monday lauded the contributions of D-line coach J.C. Price, who joined the ETSU staff this offseason after five years at Virginia Tech.
“J.C. has been fantastic and that group has responded really well to him,” Healy said.
A different challenge arrives in Johnson City this weekend in the form of a Tennessee Tech team that has allowed just 12 sacks through eight games. The Golden Eagles (7-1, 4-1), ranked 10th by Stats Perform and 11th in the coaches’ poll, pose what could be the toughest challenge to No. 17/18 ETSU (6-2, 4-0) trying to win the SoCon and capture the automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.
The size of the Tennessee Tech offensive linemen jumped out to Smith:
“They have a lot of bigger bodies than we’ve seen the past couple weeks. You know, 6-5, 6-6, 340 plus. So I feel like that’s a good advantage that they have the body weight they can use to lean on you. I haven’t really seen anything crazy on film, but I feel like as a D line, we just have to help each other. Four is one. Everybody rushes one. And when we work together, that can help us create those sacks.”
Once the interview session was over, Smith stood up and took a deep breath. His nerve-wracking media session was over.
If he keeps making plays, it won’t be the last time Smith is giving interviews.