SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Family motivated Devonta Smith’s transfer portal decision.
Prior to Smith playing the first game of his senior season at Alabama, his son was born. Smith, who is originally from Cincinnati, wanted to be closer to home.
Notre Dame was looking for a graduate transfer nickelback for a third consecutive offseason, and its coaching staff has known Smith since his early days at Cincinnati La Salle High. The match made perfect sense.
“My son and my family were truly what came into my decision to transfer from Alabama and come to Notre Dame,” Smith said Saturday. “Closer to home and I’ll be able to be around my son and my family.”
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Smith’s 7-month-old son, Chrome, and Chrome’s mother are now living with Smith in South Bend as he prepares for his final season of college football. And Smith is now playing for a coaching staff that offered him a scholarship to Cincinnati in 2019. That’s when Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman was Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator and ND defensive backs coach Mike Mickens was Cincinnati’s cornerbacks coach.
“They know my family very well,” Smith said. “They’ve been to my house a couple times. They’ve been around my high school. I’m real close to those guys.”
Picking Notre Dame didn’t take long for Smith once he entered the transfer portal. News of his commitment to the Irish broke roughly 48 hours after he appeared in the portal. That all happened in the week leading up to Notre Dame opening the College Football Playoff against Indiana.
“It was an amazing experience,” Smith said of watching ND’s playoff run, which ended with a 34-23 loss to Ohio State in the national championship. “My freshman year I was able to go all the way to the natty. I came up short as well. It was amazing seeing them going through that experience.
“Getting to the top but not winning it all, I feel like the guys are hungry now. The team is hungry. We’re ready to get back there, working day by day, game by game and practice by practice. Whatever we gotta do to get back to the top.”
Alabama lost to Georgia in the national championship game at the end of the 2021 season when Smith was a freshman. He played primarily on special teams in his first two seasons with the Crimson Tide.
“Coming in my freshman year knowing I had guys — everybody who is in front of me my freshman and sophomore years is in the NFL at this current moment,” Smith said. “Really just waiting my turn. That was the biggest lesson I learned. Just being patient.”
Smith still had to be patient after he broke a bone in his foot a couple weeks before the season started. He felt he was in line to be a starter in that 2023 season, but he played only as a reserve in four games after a healthy return. Such little playing time actually preserved a season of eligibility for Smith, which allowed him to have the opportunity to eventually transfer to Notre Dame.
But first came Smith’s senior season at Alabama in a transition year for the program. Head coach Nick Saban announced his retirement in January, then the Crimson Tide hired Kalen DeBoer to replace him.
“Coach Saban, playing with him was an honor,” Smith said. “Growing up he was someone I looked up to. He was my idol. Seeing him get to retire, I was sad but truly happy for him. He’s put a lot of work in, put a lot of time in. He definitely deserves that time off for sure.”
Smith said later: “I love Coach Saban to death. I’m thankful for everything he’s brought and that I’ve gained from him. All the knowledge, whether that was off the field or on the field. He’s been a great mentor for me for those four years of my life.”
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Smith finally became a starter for Alabama last season at the beginning of DeBoer’s tenure. The Tide finished 9-4 with the most losses in a season for the program since Saban’s first in 2007.
“The transition with Coach DeBoer was great,” Smith said. “He’s a great coach. They’re gonna have a lot of success here year two. Good group of guys. Great coaching staff.”
Smith will try to improve upon a season in which totaled 30 tackles and five pass breakups. He’s still looking for his first career interception in college, so that’s one of his individual goals this coming season.
Smith is stepping into a secondary that returns three starters from last season. Beyond Smith taking the open nickelback job, the Irish also need a new starting safety following the departure of two-time All-American Xavier Watts.
“We got a really good group of guys,” Smith said. “It’s an honor to play with this group of guys. My whole career I’ve been around superstars, so it’s only elevated my game to the next level. I’m very appreciative that I can be around a great group of guys like this.”
The success Notre Dame had with Thomas Harper (Oklahoma State) and Jordan Clark (Arizona State) as graduate transfers thriving in the starting nickelback role gives Smith confidence that this opportunity can help him achieve his dream of playing in the NFL.
“I’m just hoping to prove that I’m a dog,” Smith said. “Let everybody know I’m a dog. That I’m the best at what I do.
“Continue to bring up this winning culture that Notre Dame has had. Get the experience and build great relationships with the players on this team, the coaches on this team and the people around South Bend. That’s really what I want to get out of this last season.”
Notre Dame graduate transfer wide receiver Will Pauling, who was at Wisconsin the past two seasons, told reporters earlier this spring that Smith talked a lot of trash when the two played against each other last season. Alabama won 42-10, but Pauling caught nine passes for 83 yards and one touchdown. Pauling said Smith’s trash talk was so bad that he didn’t want to share what it was.
Pro Football Focus at least backed up Smith’s trash talk that day. According to PFF’s data, three passes were thrown to Pauling with Smith covering him that day. Pauling only caught one of them for 11 yards. He dropped one of the two other targets.
“I’m a bit of a shit-talker,” Smith admitted. “I don’t know exactly what I said, but I’m sure it wasn’t too nice. That’s my guy now. It’s all love when we’re off the field. When we’re on the field, we’re just competing. That’s all it is. No bad blood. No hatred towards anyone. But I definitely probably said something not too nice.”
Smith said his passion for the game sometimes gets him into trash-talking mode. But it’s part of playing a position that demands a lot of confidence and an ability to handle bad reps.
“You gotta have that mentality and that confidence that you’re the best at your position and you’re the best at what you do at all times, because this position comes with a lot of hate,” Smith said. “A lot of people don’t like this position. We’re kinda looked upon in a bad light. That’s why you gotta have that confidence, because stuff’s gonna happen.
“Bad things are gonna happen. You’re gonna get beat. You may give up a touchdown. You may give up a play one time, but you gotta have that short-term memory and truly just do what we need to do. Do our job, reload and keep going.”
Notre Dame’s attempt to reload for a playoff run in 2025 included making Smith a priority acquisition in the offseason. The Irish made Smith look smart after they won three playoff games against Indiana, Georgia and Penn State.
“Everything stood out to me and the whole country,” Smith said. “These guys went all the way. Came up short, but they fought their way all the way through. That just shows the fight, the culture, the staff, the players and everybody here. Who wouldn’t want to play for this program?”
Walking away from Alabama wasn’t easy. Finding a landing spot at Notre Dame made it a bit easier. But what mattered most were the reasons pulling him closer to home.
“My family, my child’s mother sacrificed a lot with me being away,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of things that I don’t really want to get too deep into it, but they just sacrificed a lot.
“I feel as though it was my time. I prayed on it. I just didn’t make an unconscious decision. I prayed on it, and this is where God led me. I know I’m walking in the right position.”
