Brian Smith (American football coach)

Brian Smith (born August 9, 1980) is an American football coach who is currently the passing game coordinator and running backs coach at Ohio University. He was previously the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at the University of Hawaii, where he also played college football.

For other people named Brian Smith, see Brian Smith (disambiguation).
Brian Smith
Current position
TitlePassing game coordinator & running backs coach
TeamOhio
ConferenceMAC
Biographical details
Born (1980-08-09) August 9, 1980
Thousand Oaks, California
Playing career
1998–2001Hawaii
Position(s)Center, long snapper
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2003Royal HS (CA) (OL)
2004Hawaii (SA)
2005Cal Lutheran (RB/WR)
2006Oregon State (GA)
2007Portland State (OL)
2008Hawaii (OL)
2009–2011Hawaii (RB)
2012Cal Lutheran (OL)
2013–2015Occidental (OC/OL)
2016Hawaii (AHC/OC/RB)
2017Hawaii (AHC/OC/RB/TE)
2018–2019Hawaii (AHC/OC/RB)
2020Washington State (OC/RB)
2021Washington State (AHC/OC/RB)
2022–presentOhio (PGC/RB)

Playing career

Smith played center at Hawaii from 1998 to 2001. He was also the team's starting long snapper in that same time duration. He was the college roommate of Nick Rolovich, and the two would practice long snaps in their apartment hallway.[1][2] Following his playing career at Hawaii, Smith signed professional contracts with the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Ravens in 2002 and 2003, respectively.[3]

Coaching career

After spending one year coaching the offensive line at Royal High School in Simi Valley, California, Smith joined the coaching staff at Hawaii as a student assistant while he completed his bachelor's degree. He also spent time as an assistant at Cal Lutheran, Oregon State, and Portland State.

Second stint at Hawaii

Smith was hired to be the offensive line coach at Hawaii in 2008 on Greg McMackin's inaugural staff, before shifting to coaching running backs in 2009.[1] Smith was not retained by newly hired head coach Norm Chow for the 2012 season.

Return to Cal Lutheran and Occidental College

Smith spent 2012 as the offensive line coach at Cal Lutheran, and was hired to be the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Occidental College in 2013.[4]

Third stint at Hawaii

Smith joined the Hawaii coaching staff for the third time in his coaching career, this time under his college roommate Rolovich and as the associate head coach and offensive coordinator.[5] He was also the team's running backs coach the entire duration of his stint, while also working as the tight ends coach in 2017 before the position was vacated in 2018 due to the change in offensive scheme from spread option to run and shoot.

Washington State

After Rolovich departed Hawaii to be the next head coach at Washington State, Smith was considered by the public eye to be a possible successor to Rolovich at Hawaii before Todd Graham was named the Rainbow Warriors head coach a couple of weeks later.[6] Smith was then officially added to Rolovich's coaching staff as the offensive coordinator & running backs coach.[7] He added the title of associate head coach in 2021.[8]

Ohio

Smith was named the passing game coordinator and running backs coach at Ohio in 2022.[9] In his first season with the Bobcats Smith coached running back Sieh Bangura to Freshman All-American honors[10] and MAC Freshman of the Year honors[11] while improving the Ohio passing attack to 23rd nationally, up from 108th in previous season.[12]

References
  1. Tsai, Stephen. "Smith hired to coach O-line". The Honolulu Advertiser. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  2. Tsai, Stephen. "Rolovich will call plays". The Honolulu Advertiser. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  3. Evans, Thayer. "Occidental off. coordinator Brian Smith to join Hawaii coaching staff". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  4. Tsai, Stephen. "Mr. Smith goes to Thousand Oaks". Hawaii Warrior World. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  5. DeMello, Rob (13 July 2016). "Brian Smith named 'Bows Offensive Coordinator, Associate head coach". KHON2. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  6. Reardon, Dave. "Hawaii football: Will a UH offensive guru, Brian Smith or Craig Stutzmann, succeed Nick Rolovich as head coach?". Hawaii Warrior World. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  7. Taylor, John (4 February 2020). "Nick Rolovich completes first Washington State staff by adding four offensive assistants". NBC Sports. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  8. "Nick Rolovich Names Kyle Krantz Cougars' Special Teams Coordinator". Washington State University Athletics. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  9. "Ohio Football Names Smith Running Backs Coach and Passing Game Coordinator". Ohio University Athletics. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  10. "Bangura, Cox and Vakos Earn CFN Freshman All-American Honors". Ohio University. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  11. "MAC Announces 2022 Postseason Football Awards & All-Conference Teams". getsomemaction.com. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  12. "cfbstats.com - 2021 National Team Leaders". cfbstats.com. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
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