When Kendall Smith intercepted Ryan Johnson’s pass on Thursday night in Illinois football’s spring football game, the sideline official quickly blew the whistle to blow the play dead so the first-team offense could take over. Smith, though, decided that he would keep the play going and returned the interception all the way to the south endzone where he proceeded to celebrate the play by performing the trendy social media dance the griddy, which has been made famous by Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase.

Of course, the play doesn’t really mean anything of significance because it occurred in the spring football game in front of a small crowd that was dispersed throughout the lower section of Memorial Stadium. But the interception could eventually prove to foreshadow what the future holds for Smith on the back end of the Illini defense in the fall.

Smith will be entering his sixth season of college football this fall, and while he is one of the older players on the Illinois roster, he hasn’t ever made a major contribution to the Fighting Illini. Smith has played in games in each of his five seasons at Illinois – but bounced between wide receiver and defensive back under previous head coach Lovie Smith before finding a more permanent home as a defensive back under now second-year head coach Bret Bielema and defensive coordinator Ryan Walters.

Because he hasn’t received much playing time – aside from special teams contributions – Smith decided to enter the transfer portal after the conclusion of the 2021 Illinois season. The Bolingbrook, Ill., native had forecasted to Bielema, Walters and defensive backs coach Aaron Henry that this could be a possibility. But when All-Big Ten safety Kerby Joseph entered the NFL Draft after a breakout season with five interceptions, the Illinois coaching staff made contact with Smith to see if he would have interest in returning to Champaign for a sixth-season.

“I had a few ideas of what I wanted to do (when I was in the transfer portal),” Smith said. “But they came back pretty hard. To not have to move and do all that stuff, it made more sense (for me to return to Illinois).”

Smith strictly was just looking for an opportunity to play a greater role next season – and with Joseph’s departure and the Illini’s defensive backfield being young, inexperienced Smith brought a comfortability to the coaching staff that few other players in the transfer portal likely would have been able to contribute to.

“It was a lot,” Smith said. “It was a kind of a whirlwind. But I appreciate the coaches being honest with me and letting me know what was going on and let me know how things were going to go. I chose to take the chase to come back.”

On Thursday, Smith played with the rest of the first-string defense, which impressed under Walters last season. Smith played the free safety position, the same position that Joseph experienced a lot of success in a year ago despite being largely unknown before the season began.

"It felt pretty good,” Smith said of gaining the opportunity to be the first-string free safety. “I’m not going to lie to you, it felt nice. It definitely felt good. I’m excited about it, and it’s to have fun.”

Part of what made Joseph so successful for Walters a year ago was his ability to play a center field type of role and make plays on the ball. Joseph was one of the better athletes on the roster a year ago, trademarked by his ability to land continuous back handsprings before launching into a high-flying backflip. Now, Smith, a good athlete in his own right, has the ability to take a similar role as Joseph did.

“He just did his job and made the plays that came to him,” Smith said of Joseph’s success last season. “Now, he’s going to get himself drafted, so doing your job is what gets you success.”

“I take pride in being an athlete and being able to do whatever needs to be done,” Smith continued to say. “Free safety seems to be a good combination of everything I can do. Coach Walters has taught me a lot, obviously, he knows what he is doing putting a guy like Kerby in the league. Anything he says, I’m taking note of it.”

The Illini defense surprised many a year ago by being one of the Big Ten’s best defenses in Walters' first year at Illinois. Illinois does have to replace key contributors to that defense like Owen Carney, Isaiah Gay, Jake Hansen, Khalan Tolson and Joseph. But they do return starters like Keith Randolph, Johnny Newton, Tarique Barnes, Sydney Brown and Devon Witherspoon.

“We know what we are doing,” Smith said of the defense playing with a confidence this spring. “We’ve heard these calls. Seen these calls. So, it’s not a matter of where am I supposed to be or what am I supposed to do? It’s a matter of just playing fast and knowing your job and getting to your assignment fast.

There’s a confidence there. We had a pretty good defensive year. We didn’t have the record that we wanted, but on the defense, we made a lot of strides. It’s all about continuing to build on that, continuing to grow and become a more dominant defense.”

Smith may not have secured the starting free safety position before fall camp, especially with redshirt freshman Prince Green earning some praise throughout the spring. But Illinois could also move Quan Martin to free safety and move Kionte Curry to the nickel/STAR position. But Smith did control the position for most of the spring and could finally be in line to play a major role for Illinois this fall.

“It means a lot,” he said. “It’s a big reason why I came back and hopefully I’m able to embrace the role and do well.”