Will Smiley accepts commitment to Naval Academy

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) -Tuesday was a rather big day for the football program at Bayth. and in particular, for a star Tornado player the past few years. Senior Will Smiley officially signing his appointment to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland Tuesday afternoon. Will an outstanding student, and an exceptional player on the football field for Bay. So not only will he matriculate up there, while preparing to serve his country, he will play on the Academy’s football team. Smiley playing quarterback, running back, receiver, defensive back, basically all over the field for coach Brown and the Tornadoes the last few years. He did suffer a season ending knee injury a couple of seasons ago, but bounced back nicely last year. And now he’s bound for one of our countries most prestigious institutions!

“Going in to the Navy you are most likely a leader on and off the field.” Will told us. “So that kind of fit my description in my opinion. Serving the country and just playing football is always something I wanted to do. So those to put together is like a dream come true and that’s the reason I chose Navy.”

“I’ll sleep better at night knowing we’ve got a guy like Will Smiley standing on that wall for us.” said Bay head football coach Jeremy Brown. “I know he’s going to play football but this is so much bigger than that. You know what I mean? It’s funny because our mantra is ‘it’s bigger than football.’ And for him to make that decision and that commitment, to serve our country is pretty special!”

Copyright 2023 WJHG. All rights reserved.