Oct. 18, 2004

By Adam Zundell
Maryland Media Relations Assistant

They don't grow the boys soft over there in Western P-A, where Jimmy's Hardware Store closes at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoons and the entire town watches the local high school kids do battle later that night. There, you just grit your teeth if you feel your ribs crunch after a play, you don't come out of the game. There's always one more rep left in the weight room, and blood and sweat are accepted and necessary by-products of hard work.

Maryland's senior center Kyle Schmitt is from that area of the country where the only break in the mountains is where the football fields are, and it's part of what makes him so good. It's sometimes difficult to evaluate offensive linemen because often it just looks like 300-pounders pushing each other around in the trenches. However, it's the toughness and attitude that Schmitt brings to the field that separates him from average offensive linemen.

"I may not be the strongest or the quickest, but being tough and smart are the two things that I try to pride myself on," Schmitt says. "I feel like I'm a tough player and a guy who is going to be in your face for 60 minutes. When you're from Pennsylvania, that's kind of your reputation."

Schmitt, though, brings more than brute force to the Terrapin offense. As the center, he has to make calls for the rest of the offensive line much like the quarterback makes calls for the entire offense.

"When we break the huddle, I'm the first to the line and I make a call based on what kind of defense the other team is in," he says. "That initial call sets off what the guards and the tackles do, and even what the tight ends do. If I don't get that initial call right, the whole play won't be worth much."

For the past two-plus seasons, Schmitt has made the right call more often than not for the Terrapins. An all-ACC honorable mention selection as a junior, his confidence has grown since he earned his first start against Georgia Tech as a sophomore. It was at that point that he knew he could compete at the highest level, and he hasn't looked back since.

"I'm the kind of guy who likes to know where I am, and I was kind of in and out of the lineup that year," he says. "I had battled confidence issues, but we ran the ball real well against them and I knew I could get it done."

As tough as he is on the field, he goes from Jonathan Ogden to John Goodman once he steps off it - a smiley guy who is always up for a joke and a laugh. You probably wouldn't want your kids around him when he's knocking defensive linemen down the field, but his personality suits him well to work with kids as a teacher and coach once he's done playing. He embraces the entire experience of college football - not just glorified football Saturdays but simply having the opportunity to interact and bond with his boys on the offensive line.

"I feel blessed to be doing what I'm doing," he says. "College football is hard work, but there are a lot of things that could be tougher."

Although it's a challenge to keep Schmitt from having a smile on his face, his family also helps keep him upbeat on those rare occasions. He cites how close he is with his family, and how much of an inspiration they are on his football career.

"Other than playing for the team and myself, I do it for them," Schmitt says. "They love watching me play and enjoy being a part of this experience."

One family member who is actually an integral part of the experience is his brother Andrew, a freshman on the Terp football team.

"It's really neat," he says of the experience of playing with his brother. "It makes my senior year that much more special to have your little brother there to be a part of things. This is the first time we've ever been on the same team. We went through some things - he parked my car in a tow zone once - so, I have had to show him the way on things like that. It's been cool to see him progress in a couple of months."

Schmitt has been named to the Rimington Award watch list for the nation's best center the past two seasons. Again, while it is difficult to separate the good from the best, if the tiebreaker is toughness, Kyle Schmitt has the inside track.