He played college football at Minnesota, where he was named a first-team All-American.

Schmitz was born on March 19, 1999, in Flossmoor, Illinois, and attended Homewood-Flossmoor High School.

[1] Schmitz initially committed to play college football at Western Michigan under coach P. J.

[5] He played in all 13 of the Golden Gophers' games as a redshirt freshman, appearing mostly on special teams.

[8] Schmitz used the extra year of eligibility granted to college athletes in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to Minnesota for 2022.