Wisconsin football QB Carter Smith learning 'urgency' in freshman season
Carter Smith’s growth since enrolling early could help Wisconsin break its cycle of transfer portal QBs and develop its own long-term starter.
If you’ve been following the Wisconsin football program the last few years, you know the trend. The starting quarterback has come from the transfer portal three straight seasons. Luke Fickell and his staff have made it work out of necessity, but long term, they’d rather not live in that world. They want a guy they recruited, developed, and built around for multiple years.
The Badgers are hoping Carter Smith represents that future.
The former four-star recruit from Bishop Verot High School in Florida wasn’t just a big recruiting win. He represents a potential turning point for the program. A composite top-200 prospect, ranked No. 15 nationally among quarterbacks, Smith picked Wisconsin over offers from heavyweights like Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, and Texas A&M. His prep résumé was absurd: 8,740 passing yards, 87 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions, plus 2,620 rushing yards and 56 rushing scores in 46 starts.
Getting him to Madison took more than a great sales pitch. It required a rare opportunity. Smith had been committed to Michigan for quite some time before finding out Sherrone Moore and the Wolverines were shifting their focus toward the nation's No. 1 quarterback, Bryce Underwood, with a substantial NIL deal on the table. Shortly after, Smith decommitted, and Wisconsin's coaching staff pushed their chips all in to land him.
When Smith enrolled early, the plan was clear. With Maryland transfer Billy Edwards Jr. locked in as the starter, plus Danny O’Neil and eventually Hunter Simmons competing behind him, Smith was likely headed for a redshirt year and a chance to learn, adjust, and prepare for the long haul.
Even so, Smith’s early months in Madison have been anything but idle.
The 6-foot-3 freshman arrived in January needing to add weight and has already bulked up to 200+ pounds, thanks to Brady Collins. Smith has also been soaking up lessons from both Edwards and O’Neil, two players with extensive starting experience. Edwards has appeared in 26 career games with 14 starts, while O’Neil started 11 games at San Diego State.
The problem? He approached it exactly like that.
“It’s nice and simple: urgency. Urgency,” quarterbacks coach Kenny Guiton said when asked where he’s seen Smith make the biggest strides. “I think when he came in, he kind of had a feel as if, all right, I’m coming in with a fifth-year guy that they brought in, and I see some backups that are pretty good, and I’m just gonna be a guy that redshirts.
"And I thought he was looking at it the wrong way. I can say that because I’ve had those conversations with him… it kind of started out a little slow in fall camp. In about two weeks, something clicked. We sat down, we had a heart-to-heart, and I think he really understood, like, ‘Hey, if I want to show I can be the future of this program, we need to see him now.’”
Smith’s shift in mindset has been noticeable.