As a recent graduate of Louisiana Tech, J’Mar Smith had the option of entering the transfer portal and becoming immediately eligible to play at any school of his choice.

The thought never even crossed his mind.

Smith, a former Meridian standout at quarterback, went 264 of 461 in passing last season for the Bulldogs for 3,160 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions to help Louisiana Tech to an 8-5 record and a 31-14 win in the Hawaii Bowl against Hawaii. After redshirting during the 2015 season and playing backup quarterback in 2016, Smith has started for the Bulldogs the previous two years.

Ruston, Louisiana, has become a second home for Smith, and he said he has unfinished business as he enters his final season with the Bulldogs: winning a Conference USA title.

“I know what I have to do,” Smith said. “There’s something I have to finish for the school, something we’ve been striving toward the past five years.”

While he doesn’t blame athletes for entering the transfer portal, Smith said it was always his intention to finish his college career at Louisiana Tech.

“You have to find your home, and if (where you are) isn’t it, then you have to find somewhere you feel comfortable,” Smith said. “At Louisiana Tech, I feel more comfortable than ever.”

That’s especially true now that he has a bachelor’s degree in hand from the school.

“It feels great,” Smith said. “I feel relieved. I’ll be honest, those last couple of papers I had to write to finish college, it kind of got to me. It feels good knowing I’m an official graduate of Louisiana Tech.”

Following the conclusion of the 2018-19 school year, Smith and the rest of the Bulldogs are currently on a week-and-a-half break before summer workouts start Monday. This fall, he plans to enter the school’s MBA program and get a master’s degree in either business or sports marketing. For now, he’s just enjoying the down time in Ruston.

“It doesn’t matter how many days it is as long as you get to relax away from football, but you still have to do your stuff outside of mandatory team workouts,” Smith said.

Smith’s goal this summer is to get down in the 215- to 218-pound range and improve the agility aspect of his game. As a team, Smith said the goal is to improve upon the little things in order to turn a good season into a great one.

“We’re at the point where we know what we can do,” Smith said. “We have to take all those intangible aspects of the game to another level. We have to execute better and hold each other accountable.”

When he first arrived at Louisiana Tech in 2015, Smith said he could barely read defenses outside of Cover 2 or man-to-man. Now, he credits his coaches for having a wealth of football knowledge compared to his freshman season — and Smith empathizes with the incoming freshmen who have to go through the same trail by fire he once did.

“When I see those freshmen, I think of the memories where my brain was spinning,” Smith said. “Coach would call plays, and my eyes were wide trying to figure out what was being called. Now, I’m almost finishing calling the plays for him.”

When he’s not focusing on school or football, Smith will often text or call his sister, Jaliyah Davis, who is currently a standout softball player at Meridian. Smith’s older-brother advice to Davis extends beyond how to approach a particular game or at-bat.

“I always tell her about time management, what you have to do and when you have to do it so you don’t get behind and miss assignments,” Smith said.

Since Davis has a desire to play softball at the collegiate level, Smith said he’s also given her something to think about when going through the recruiting process, and it’s advice any potential college prospect should take.

“You want to go somewhere you feel comfortable, where they treat you like family and you trust the coaches and players,” Smith said.