Izaac Smith: Built Where They Don't Always Look

A 2028 kicker from Sturgis, South Dakota, Izaac Smith is building his path through family roots, pressure moments, daily preparation, and a belief that overlooked places can still produce real specialists.

ATHLETE | Izaac N. Smith

CLASS / POSITION | 2028 | Kicker

SCHOOL | Sturgis Brown High School

HOMETOWN | Sturgis, South Dakota

COLLEGE | Uncommitted

OTU THEME | Built Where They Don't Always Look

The Blueprint Started at Home

Before Izaac Smith was trying to prove that South Dakota could produce real college football specialists, the path started inside his own family.

His father is a high school soccer coach in Sturgis. His older brothers, Dominik and Elliot, grew up overseas in Lisbon, Portugal, playing soccer while the family lived the Navy life. When the family moved to Sturgis, South Dakota, Dominik kept playing soccer until a friend, Brodie Eisenbraun, convinced him to try football.

Dominik did not know how to kick a football yet. So he studied it. He read Ray Guy's book, taught himself, then started teaching Elliot and Izaac. Izaac was only eight or nine years old at the time, but the details stuck with him.

That kind of beginning matters. Izaac did not simply learn to swing his leg. He learned to think about kicking. He started caring about the why behind the ball flight, the form, the cleats, the different styles, and the small pieces that turn a kick from a guess into a craft.

He calls himself a nerd about it. That is not a throwaway line. It is part of what makes his story different. He studies the position because he was raised around people who had to figure it out, build it, and pass it down.

The blueprint started at home.

Legatron and the First Belief

Long before the college dream became real, Izaac was already becoming something unusual for his area.

He describes himself as Sturgis, South Dakota's first real PeeWee kicker. At that age, the belief came from coaches who saw something worth encouraging. Nate Rouloff and Chris Koontz gave him opportunities, let him kick, and made him feel like the role mattered. Coach Rouloff, now on the Sturgis high school staff, even gave him the nickname: Legatron.

There is something powerful about being treated like a specialist before everyone else understands what that means.

Izaac remembers playing the PeeWee Super Bowl at Rapid City Hardrockers field, where his brother had played. He also remembers Coach Rouloff telling him he was already kicking on college pipes.

For a young kicker, that kind of sentence can stay with you. It gives the work a bigger shape. It tells you that what you are doing might be more than a small youth football job.

It might be the start of a path.

The First Pressure Kick

As a freshman, Izaac got one of those early moments that tells a coaching staff whether a young specialist can be trusted.

The kick was not 50 yards. It was not a viral highlight. It was a 26- or 27-yard field goal against Stevens High School, the biggest school in the area and the program athletes often transfer into for sports.

That context mattered more than the distance.

The field goal tied the game. Sturgis went on to win. For Izaac, the moment reinforced that all the effort, energy, and time he had spent training were worth it. It also showed his coaches that he could be trusted when the situation mattered.

Pressure did not feel foreign to him. Soccer had already given him penalty kicks and competitive moments where the ball, the silence, and the result all came together. He loves those situations.

That is an important trait for a kicker. Some players endure pressure. Others are shaped by it. Izaac sounds like the second kind.

The Sound of the Rivalry

The next stage of trust came in one of the loudest environments on the schedule.

Against Spearfish, Sturgis's biggest rival, Izaac became the varsity starter. He went 2-for-2 on field goals, 1-for-1 on PATs, and delivered an onside kick that was recovered. Sturgis won 13-9.

What he remembers most is not just the stat line. It is the sound.

The Spearfish fans went silent when the ball went through the uprights. Then the Sturgis fans exploded.

That moment helped him understand something mentors like John Hoyland and Matt Thompson had told him: the crowd will let you know if you make it.

For specialists, that is part of the job. You do not always get constant attention. You may go long stretches without anyone noticing the work. Then one swing changes the sound of the stadium.

Izaac has felt that now. He knows what it sounds like when the work meets the moment.

What It Meant for Sturgis

The story carries more weight because of where it happened.

Izaac describes Sturgis football as a program with historical weight. The school is known for a 79-game losing streak from 1998 to 2005, a stretch that was featured on ESPN. That kind of history does not disappear quickly. It becomes part of the background every coach and player has to work against.

So when Izaac was part of a sophomore season that helped Sturgis earn its first home playoff game in 20 years and reach the semifinals for the first time in 30 years, it meant something bigger than one player's stat line.

He was happy for his coach. He understood how hard it is to lead a program carrying that kind of history. And he believes Sturgis is in position to get back there again.

That gives his story another layer.

Izaac is not only trying to prove himself. He is trying to be part of a place proving it can build something again.

What People Miss

Izaac knows what people may notice first.

He is not the biggest kicker. He is quiet. Those things can make some evaluators move too quickly past the deeper parts of his profile.

But what he wants coaches to understand is simple: his heart, effort, and preparation matter more than a first impression. His kicking form, work in the weight room, and the way he studies the position are the assets he believes should carry more weight than height.

The good news, he says with a laugh, is that he is finally growing.

That growth is real. He turned 16 recently and has gone through the biggest growth spurt of his life, adding six inches since October and 4.5 inches since January alone. That kind of physical change can disrupt timing, steps, and plant-foot consistency. So this spring, he has been adjusting his steps and plant foot to match the body he is growing into.

That is development. Not just getting bigger, but learning how to keep the craft clean while the body changes around it.

The Work Nobody Sees

The work behind Izaac's story is not vague.

His weekly routine includes air drills and pad work seven days a week for 30 to 45 minutes. He live-kicks three days a week, even outside in the snow during South Dakota winters. He is in the gym three days a week with trainer Riley Burke, then adds another gym day on his own.

And when he is not training, he is studying.

Other kickers. Film. Form. Details. Different styles. Different approaches. The small pieces that people outside the specialist world may never think about.

That matters because Izaac does not trust only the result. He trusts the preparation that creates the result.

Field goals, kickoffs, and pressure moments are not separate from the work. They are products of it. That is how he sees the position now: a process that rewards the athlete willing to repeat, study, adjust, and keep building when no one is watching.

The People Behind the Path

No specialist builds alone, and Izaac's story makes that clear.

Matt Thompson has been more than a kicking coach. Izaac calls him family. Matt's confidence, love for the game, and detailed process gave Izaac a clearer picture of what great kicking requires. From the time Izaac was young, Matt surrounded him with people and knowledge that helped him believe he belonged and could reach the next level.

John Hoyland gave him another kind of blueprint. Through Matt, Izaac started working with John about three years ago, and John helped show him a path from soccer to pro. He tied together pieces of training, preparation, and how to carry himself as a specialist trying to move forward.

The circle is bigger than that. Evan Lyons from CSU Pueblo has helped him from the start. Current Wyoming kickers Erik Sandivik and Keelan Anderson have also been part of the support system. Izaac describes the whole thing like a big family.

Then there is his own family.

Dominik has always believed in him. He still comes to games. He still helps. Recently, he was on the field helping Izaac punt. His parents have carried the time, the drives to and from Colorado, the field work, the gym work, and the resources that make the path possible.

For Izaac, that support sends a message: people believe he can make it.

Now his job is to keep working like that belief matters.

South Dakota Has Talent

The goal is not complicated.

Izaac wants to play college football. He wants to make his area proud. He wants to represent the people who have invested in him. And he wants to remind people that South Dakota has talent.

That does not mean he is trying to turn the story into a slogan. It means he understands where he comes from. He knows not every program or evaluator starts by looking toward Sturgis, South Dakota, for specialists. He knows he may have to create proof in ways others do not.

That is why the preparation matters. That is why the form matters. That is why the technical ability matters. When a college coach watches his film, Izaac wants the first thing they notice to be the years of coachability behind the kick: the listening, the applying, the repeating, and the willingness to be taught.

That is how overlooked places become harder to ignore.

Not through noise.

Through proof.

What Comes Next

Izaac's story is still early, but the direction is clear.

He is growing physically, adjusting technically, and continuing to build inside a support system that expects him to keep climbing. The goal is college football, but the path is not only about getting noticed. It is about becoming trustworthy enough for the next level to make sense when the opportunity arrives.

There is also another layer now.

His younger brother Wyatt and younger sister Nadia are behind him. They kick with him, go to the gym with him, and support him. Nadia was the high school JV soccer team MVP as a seventh grader. Wyatt kicks, plays quarterback, and pitches in baseball.

Izaac wants them to stay on the blueprint and trust the process. Keep working. Keep believing. Surround yourself with good people who want you to succeed.

That may be the clearest sign of what this journey means. He is not just trying to make a name for himself. He is trying to keep the path open for the ones coming next.

Final Word

"Stay on the blueprint and trust the process."

Izaac Smith's story is built where people do not always look first. It starts with family, soccer fields, a Ray Guy book, and older brothers figuring out the craft before passing it down. It grows through PeeWee belief, pressure kicks, rivalry noise, and a Sturgis program trying to move beyond old history.

It continues in the quiet places: air drills, pad work, winter kicking, weight-room sessions, film study, and the adjustment that comes when a young athlete is still growing into his body and his future at the same time.

The goal is college football. The purpose is bigger than that.

Izaac wants to make his area proud. He wants to represent the people who invested in him. He wants to show that South Dakota has talent. And he wants the younger specialists behind him to believe the path can be built from where they are, too.

That is why his story belongs here.

Not because everything has already arrived, but because the blueprint is real, the work is steady, and the belief keeps moving forward.