FRUITPORT – For the past eight years, Nate Smith has been providing a very unique brand of leadership and inspiration for the young athletes in the Fruitport football program.
As varsity head coach, Smith did a lot more than just teach football. He connected with his players on a personal level, and the athletes came to know him as a father-like figure who was always there for them, regardless of the topic.
As senior DayDay Williams, a standout receiver/defensive back for the past few seasons, said a few months ago, “He’s always been able to just rekindle my love for the game. He pushes you, motivates you and just makes the game more fun. He’s also someone you can always talk to.”
Now Smith is going to be able to make that sort of connection with kids throughout Fruitport’s athletic program.
Last week Smith sent a letter out to the district’s football parents, announcing he was stepping aside as head football coach to become Fruitport’s associate athletic director, assisting AD Jonny Morehouse.
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He will also retain his full-time job as student advocate at the high school and middle school.
Fruitport is expected to post the head football coaching vacancy this week, and choose a replacement for Smith in the near future.
“This was not an easy decision, as leading this program has been one of the most meaningful experiences I’ve had,” Smith said in his message to parents. “However, I believe this move will allow me to make the greatest impact on our overall athletic program, and will directly support the long-term success and development of our football program.
“I am excited to work alongside Mr. Morehouse to expand the impact of the strong athletic traditions here at Fruitport. In this new role, I will focus on strengthening leadership, alignment, student-athlete engagement and culture across all sports. My goal remains the same as it’s always been – to empower student-athletes to be leaders, and to ensure that they have every opportunity to grow, compete and excel, both on and off the field.”
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Morehouse saluted Smith for building strong personal bonds with players, and helping them create stronger bonds with each other.
“I am grateful for all Nate has done for our football program,” Morehouse said. “He has helped build a very positive culture within the program, and a strong brotherhood.
“Nate will be very involved in our athletic program. He is going to be involved with our middle school athletics and will be helping at the high school level with student culture.”
On the field, the Trojans had some ups and downs during Smith’s tenure, but the program always showed a lot of resilience.
Fruitport went 1-8 in his first year in 2018, but started a steady climb and qualified for the state playoffs in both 2021 and 2022.
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Smith’s best year was in 2022, when the Trojans went 8-3, won a share of the championship in the brutally tough O-K Blue conference, and won a first-round playoff game against Ludington before bowing out in the district finals against Whitehall.
His worst season was in 2023, after the Trojans lost a ton of starters from that championship team and dropped to 0-9. But again the team pulled itself off the mat over the next three seasons, improving each year and setting the table for future success.
The Trojans were 3-6 in 2024 and 4-5 this year. They went into the final week this fall with a chance to make the playoffs again, but lost to Hopkins 12-7.
Fruitport also lost a heartbreaker to Godwin Heights, 31-30, a few weeks earlier. Overall the Trojans missed out on having a 6-3 season, and a very likely playoff berth, by a total of seven points this season.
In hindsight, none of that is what matters the most to Smith.
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“I recently found my interview packet, and it said here’s what I would do for Fruitport football if I was hired, the way I wanted to see things change,” Smith said. “Looking at that, I feel very good. I said we were going to compete and have great kids who believe in themselves and trust in each other. That’s the kind of stuff that transcends football.
“I wish we had more wins, but I never once told the kids that it’s all about that. The scoreboard will never indicate the kind of people they are. Our kids are proud to wear that Fruitport F. They care about each other, and they know how to hold each other accountable. That 0-9 season, that was awful, but the guys cared for each other and we were all in it together. The belief they had in the program, despite everything, that’s something that wasn’t there before.”
Smith’s greatest achievements were probably the relationships he built with his young players. He is, by nature, a caring and decent man who treats everyone with kindness and respect, and the student-athletes of Fruitport naturally gravitate toward him.
There are lots of former Fruitport players who are more than willing to share their stories about Coach Smith, and tell how he made a difference in their lives.
Gavin Reames was a Fruitport quarterback who played for the varsity Trojans for three years, between 2019 and 2021. He is currently a senior football player at Hope College, and credits Smith for preparing him for the next step in his career.
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“Coach Smith was hired when I was coming in as a freshman,” Reames said. “He transformed the culture, kind of pushed better standards for the team, and held the players more accountable.
“He transformed my game to what it was when I was done at Fruitport. He gets all the credit for instilling a good work ethic in me, for really preparing me to be a collegiate athlete and preparing me for the future.
“I always felt like Coach Smith was another father figure to me. I had a good home life, but he was like that other role model outside of the house. He and I would always be up late, texting each other, and he was always asking me how the guys were feeling, and what we could do better. He was always an open ear for me. I could talk to him about anything at all, and he was always there for all of his players.
“I know a lot of people in the community don’t always agree with what he does on Friday nights, but those are people who don’t know just how much he cares about his players and loves on his players, every single day.”
Whatever he does professionally in the future, Reames said he also hopes to find time to coach football, and said that inspiration came from Smith.
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“He would always have old-time stories about playing football in school, and how he had always felt a calling to coach, and I feel the same way,” Reames said. “Just having someone like him coach me and love on me gave me the passion to pursue a career as a coach.”
David Cadena was a senior who played center during Smith’s first season at Fruitport in 2018.
Cadena had gone through a personal tragedy not long before then, and said Coach Smith was there right away to help him restore his faith in God and get through his emotional trauma.
“He’s played a huge part in my life, not just as a coach, but as a spiritual mentor, so to speak,” Cadena said. “My mom died when I was in high school, and he helped me get through that. A lot of people may not know it, but Coach Smith was a pastor before he became a coach. I asked him one time why he left the ministry, because he’s so good at it, and he just looked up and responded ‘Who said I left?’”
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Cadena went on to play college football, then accepted Smith’s invitation and returned to the Fruitport program to coach junior varsity and now middle school players.
As a coach, Cadena knows all about winning and losing, but he also knows there are far more important things.
“A lot of people look at the way things went over the past few years, but I remind them of how bad the program was when he took over,” Cadena said. “And culture is not always obvious to people. It’s more about how the kids feel about themselves and each other, and how they go about things.
“Fruitport football is in a much better place because Coach Smith was a part of it.”
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