Cactus brothers make name in college ranks

Tyler Schmitt is a specialist.

The 2004 Cactus High School graduate is one of the best in college football at his position, but to the average football fan his name doesn’t garner a reaction.

Schmitt heads into his senior season at San Diego State looking to try and cap not just a perfect game as in baseball, nor a perfect season such as an undefeated season, but a perfect career.

The Aztecs long snapper has gone three seasons without a bad snap on punts or on field goals. While his accuracy has been stellar, his speed has the attention of NFL scouts.

“At the college and the NFL level, a good snap gets to the punter (15 yards back) somewhere between .65 and .75 seconds,” he said. “I’m regularly in the .5s as low as .53. From what I’ve been told, the NFL is a real possibility if I have another solid season.”

Schmitt’s skill is in such demand that the Aztecs flat turned him down early in his career when he let it be known that he’d like to contribute in other aspects besides snapping.

“My senior year at Cactus, I led the state in sacks,” he said. “I knew San Diego had recruited me to be a long snapper, but I thought I had the talent to be productive in other ways. They just said it wasn’t worth the risk of me getting hurt.”

While Tyler gets ready for his final season at San Diego State, his younger brother Mike, is trying to make a name for himself two hours to the north as a sophomore at UCLA.

The younger Schmitt was a sophomore who played alongside his brother when Tyler was a senior at Cactus. That edition of the team fell in the state championship game to Sunnyside. As a junior, Mike helped Cactus back to the state title game, where they lost for a second straight year.

In 2005 Cactus made its fifth title-game appearance and the third straight for Mike. He was a linebacker on the best defense in the school’s history and was a prime contributor in the Cobras 14-0 march to its first state title.

Despite his stellar play, the younger Schmitt wasn’t overwhelmed with opportunities to continue his football career coming out of the Glendale high school.

“I went to Phoenix College looking to develop a little bit more physically,” he said. “I was a little disappointed that I didn’t have more options, but things worked out real well at Phoenix College.

Going from 210 pounds his senior year at Cactus, Schmitt bulked up to 225, but also improved his speed.

The results were stellar as the linebacker produced 129 tackles, four sacks, and had three interceptions for the Bears. The 129 tackles was the third highest total in the nation at the National Junior College Athletic Association level.

Schmitt’s play caught the attention of UCLA, who offered him a scholarship. With the season opener at Stanford two weeks away, the sophomore is doing his best to make an impression on his new teammates and coaches.

“It’s a big jump,” Schmitt said of moving from the junior college ranks. “The biggest difference has to be the speed of the players. I think I’m making that adjustment pretty well. Right now, I’m doing my best to learn the defense.”

Phoenix College coach Dale Wolfley is confident his former linebacker will be a strong contributor at some point for the Bruins.

“He’s a very good athlete, a tough, physical kid who is extremely intelligent,” Wolfley said. “He’s got good feet. You can find quicker linebackers, but with his brains he’ll get himself where he needs to be to make a play. We were shocked that we were able to get him. A lot of schools missed out on a really good football player and a really good person.”

Whether the 19-year-old plays this season or redshirts may largely be determined by his ability to play special teams.

“They’ve got some veterans back at linebacker so I’m probably just a depth guy in the coaches’ eyes right now, but I’m working with a couple of the special teams units,” Schmitt said.

The younger Schmitt isn’t a long snapper.

“I leave that to my brother. I don’t know how he does it,” he said.

Tyler said he offered some advice to his little brother.

“I just let him know that college coaches at this level film everything, so just make sure you go hard all the time,” he said.

While Mike will have the opportunity to play in the Pac-10, it will be Tyler who gets a chance to play in Arizona this season. In front of family and friends, Tyler and the Aztecs will come to Tempe to take on Arizona State at 7 p.m. Sept. 15 in Sun Devil Stadium.

Tyler said his parents, Kevin and Lisa, who live in Peoria, are excited about the prospect of both sons playing college football this season.

“They’ve supported us since we were young and they’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished,” Tyler said. “They deserve a lot of credit for where we are.”

Coming off a 3-9 season, Tyler think this year’s San Diego will be much improved.

“You don’t ever want to get used to losing,” he said. “At the same time I understand that in my role there’s only so much I can do. As long as I keep making perfect snaps I’m helping the team the best I can.”

Along with the support of their parents, the brothers say they’re there for each other.

“There might be a game late in the year where I can go see him play,” Tyler said.

“It’s pretty busy right now, since we just started camp, but we talk pretty regularly either over the phone or on the computer just to see how each other is doing,” Mike said. “We’re both looking forward to the season.”

While Mike will kick off his season Saturday at Stanford, Tyler opens on the road Sept. 8 at Washington State.