Lumen Christi offensive lineman Keegan Smith has committed to play in Mount Pleasant for Central Michigan University’s football program. Lumen Christi’s football program is coming off of their third straight state championship win.
JTV Sports | June 25th, 2019 | Gabriel Schray
Keegan Smith will become a Chippewa and play for Central Michigan University’s football program, he announced via Twitter. New head coach Jim McElwain will benefit from his verbal commit to the program, as he will become a member of the 2020 recruiting class for the University.
57-year-old McElwain was 22-12 over parts of three seasons at Florida. He won 19 games and earned SEC Coach of the Year honors. At Colorado State, he turned the Rams into a 10-win program and second-place finisher in the Mountain West Conference.
At Alabama he served as offensive coordinator and formed a relationship with CMU athletic director Michael Alford. he also coached at Michigan State from 2003 to 2005. He’ll be hoping to turn around a Chippewas football team that went a program-worst 1-11 in their 2018 campaign.
The Titans @keegan_smith6 has committed to play for @CMU_Football
The 📸 below are from the @LumenChristiJxn lineman#fireupchips #football #cfb #mhsaa #michiganfootball #hsfootball
pic.twitter.com/u1grFyixIt— JTV Sports (@JTV_Sports) June 25, 2019
Smith, who already holds a number of scholarship offers, will have a chance to return Lumen Christi to Ford Field this fall. The school and program are hoping to build on both historical and recent success by capturing an additional state championship.
Part of the reason CMU may have landed Smith, lies in their Michigan-first and grass roots recruiting approach. McElwain detailed that Michigan-first focus to recruiting in an ESPN story last month. The story also described his home in Mt. Pleasant, where he has a trailer for an office.
Lumen Christi will return a number of starters to their lineup this fall. This would be their fourth State Championship in a row, if they were able to pull off the big win again.
For more local sports news and information, you can connect with JTV on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This article was written by JTV’s Gabriel Schray. He is in his fifth year covering Jackson Area sports and news for JTV. You can connect with Gabriel on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as well.