COLUMBUS — Among a crowd of students and former players, Heritage Academy’s newest head football coach, Tobias Smith, talked about how the opportunity was like his NFL.
A former Mississippi State offensive lineman and assistant coach with the Patriots, Smith was born and raised in Columbus, never straying too far away from the Golden Triangle.
In talking with future players of his, his goals were simple, to build up great players, but even better people outside of the football field.
Smith’s career began and grew in Columbus, starring on the offensive line at Columbus High School, and now, 15 years later, his head coaching career gets its start.
“It’s a tradition-rich program and just to come back and be able to lead these guys, so many familiar faces, in the hometown where I grew up, I understand the tradition here and we’re just going to try to carry it on,” Smith said.
Smith served as head junior varsity coach and varsity offensive and defensive line coach for Heritage in 2018 and 2019.
Since that point, he was the offensive coordinator at Mississippi Delta Community College for the 2020 season, the offensive/defensive line coach at Amory for the 2021 season and the offensive coordinator and junior varsity head coach at West Lowndes.
“It’s the people,” Smith said. “Ever since I came here, people talked about Heritage family, and it’s a true thing. I see people out in the community that still treat me like family and now I’m just an active member of the family again.”
The opportunity to return to the Patriots began some months ago as Harris and Heritage Headmaster Sean Harrison discussed the possibility of him coming back as an assistant coach.
Once head coach Lance Pogue resigned late last week, the decision to bring on Smith as the head coach was a no-brainer.
“Ever since Tobias left us in the spring of 2020, I knew he’d be back here,” Harrison said. “There wasn’t a search. There weren’t interviews. I knew as soon as the position was available, we knew Tobias was our guy.”
When Harrison first let Smith know about the opening and their interest to bring him on, it came initially as a shock.
“One day I got a text from Coach Harrison saying are you ready to be a head coach,” Smith said. “I was kind of taken aback by it and I called him immediately. I was like, ‘Man, what are you talking about?’ He told me that the job might possibly become open and without hesitation, I accepted.”
Smith inherits a program that went 10-2 last season, losing to Oak Forest Academy (La.) in the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools Class 5A semifinals.
Knowing the history and prestige of the program, Smith looks to match recent success while building a legacy of his own, one that he hopes will be long and prosperous.
“My immediate goal is really just to get better every day,” Smith said. “… One thing that we’re going to lay our hat on is hard work. We’re going to do it on the field, in the classroom. As long as we do that, we’ll be successful.”
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