In return, BC's Smith has heads-up approach

Speedy kick returner Jeff Smith is eager to get his hands on the ball again for the Eagles. (Barry Chin/Globe Staff)

It was in his head. Plain and simple. He was no longer a football player.

"I had accepted it," Jeff Smith said. "I thought I would never play again. But I would do other things. I could do other things. I did do other things. I redirected my train of thought."

Smith moved on, perhaps wondering about the "might have beens" and "if onlys" for a former quarterback, running back, and all-around star at Silver Lake High School who came to Boston College in 2006 with a desire to carry that proficiency to the next level.

For a year, he showed star potential, as he broke into the Eagles offense gradually. He was a kickoff returner, not a running back or quarterback. And, as he did in high school, he offered glimpses of his talents, playing in all 13 games as a true freshman and returning 23 kicks for a 28-yard average, tops in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Sporting News named him a second-team All-American.

And then it stopped, without much warning. Smith got dinged in training camp and suffered a concussion.

"Just an injury," said the 5-foot-9-inch, 198-pound junior, who is back in full stride with the Eagles as a kickoff returner, running back, wide receiver, and anything else offensive coordinator Steve Logan might concoct. "I didn't feel it was a big deal. Those things happen. It was a concussion, but it was part of the game."

The training staff took the cautious approach. Smith sat for the first five games last season. He returned, though limited to kickoff returns, but the week of the climactic meeting with Clemson that sealed the ACC Atlantic Division title for the Eagles, Smith was nicked again. Another concussion. He was done for the season and then, after consultation with doctors, done with football for good.

Supposedly.

"They said I shouldn't play again," said Smith. "And I really did accept that. But what I did was repress it. It just hurt too much to accept and so I just didn't think about it."

While Smith's former teammates prepared for spring practice, he ran with the track team, where he again showed his speed: "10.51 in the 100 meters," he said. "But I missed my teammates. I missed football. I began thinking to myself, 'What if I'm all right?' I went back to the doctors and asked them about it. They checked me out and they said I was better. I could do this."

Now Smith is back in football training camp. The opening of the season is days away - Saturday against Kent State at Cleveland. Smith is listed as one of the Eagles' primary running backs.

"It feels different now," he said. "It was like I was a brand new person, getting to start life over again. It's almost like a new sport."

Speed is part of the new look in the BC offense. Smith and freshman Josh Haden have sprinter's speed. The Eagles will run more options, more quick openers.

While speed is a tangible part of the game, preparing for it is a different matter.

"When you defend against speed, you have to be very sound in your techniques," said linebacker Mark Herzlich, who has to practice against that speed every day. "You almost have to be there before the running back or wide receiver gets there, because if you guess, they will outrun you."

Smith wants to do that, but he has had to change his mind-set.

"In the past, when I was returning kicks, I would just lower my shoulder and try and fight my way through," he said. "It was the way I always played.

"But after the second concussion, I thought, 'Maybe I'm doing it the wrong way. Maybe there was something wrong with me.' My friends were telling me to go around people instead of through them. I'm not trying to avoid anyone, but I realize I had to play defensively.

"It was tough to do. My whole way of life was doing it one way. Now I'm doing it the other way."

The Eagles are paying attention. Asked about his plans for Smith, coach Jeff Jagodzinski laughed. "Everything," he said. "Running, receiving, returns. You name it."

Smith hears those words and nods his head. "I can't wait," he said.

Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun@globe.com.