Brian Smith (born August 9, 1980) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach who is currently the passing game coordinator and running backs coach at

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

. He was previously the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

, where he also played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Playing career

Smith played

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

from 1998 to 2001. He was also the team's starting

long snapper In American football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a center on special teams whose duty is to snap the football over a longer distance, typically around 15 yards during punts, and 7–8 yards during field goals and extra point attempt ...

in that same time duration. He was the college roommate of

Nick Rolovich Nicholas Robert Rolovich ( ; born February 16, 1979) is an American football coach and former player, who was most recently the head football coach at Washington State University (WSU). Rolovich majored in economics at the University of Hawaii, ...

, and the two would practice long snaps in their apartment hallway. Following his playing career at Hawaii, Smith signed professional contracts with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

in 2002 and 2003, respectively.

Coaching career

After spending one year coaching the offensive line at Royal High School in

Simi Valley, California Simi Valley (; Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in the valley of the same name in the southeast region of Ventura County, California, United States. Simi Valley is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. The ...

, Smith joined the coaching staff at

as a student assistant while he completed his bachelor's degree. He also spent time as an assistant at

Cal Lutheran California Lutheran University (CLU, Cal Lutheran, or Cal Lu) is a private university in Thousand Oaks, California. It was founded in 1959 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but is nonsectarian. It opened in 1960 ...

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

, and

Portland State Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

Second stint at Hawaii

Smith was hired to be the offensive line coach at Hawaii in 2008 on

Greg McMackin Gregory James McMackin (born April 24, 1945) is a retired American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Oregon Institute of Technology from 1986 to 1989 and at the University of Hawaii at Manoa from 2008 to 20 ...

's inaugural staff, before shifting to coaching running backs in 2009. Smith was not retained by newly hired head coach

Norm Chow Norman Yew Heen Chow (born May 3, 1946) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for the Helvetic Guards in the European League of Football. He was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Man ...

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 Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

in 2013.

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. 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 In finance, a spread option is a type of option where the payoff is based on the difference in price between two underlying assets. For example, the two assets could be crude oil and heating oil; trading such an option might be of interest to o ...

run and shoot The run and shoot offense (also known as Run N' Shoot) is an offensive system for American football which emphasizes receiver motion and on-the-fly adjustments of receivers' routes in response to different defenses. It was conceived by former ...

Washington State

After Rolovich departed Hawaii to be the next head coach at

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, Smith was considered by the public eye to be a possible successor to Rolovich at Hawaii before

Todd Graham Michael Todd Graham (born December 5, 1964) is an American football coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2020–2021). Graham has served as the head football coach at Rice ...

was named the Rainbow Warriors head coach a couple of weeks later. Smith was then officially added to Rolovich's coaching staff as the offensive coordinator & running backs coach. He added the title of associate head coach in 2021.

Ohio

Smith was named the passing game coordinator and running backs coach at

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

in 2022. In his first season with the Bobcats Smith coached running back Sieh Bangura to Freshman All-American honors and MAC Freshman of the Year honors while improving the Ohio passing attack to 23rd nationally, up from 108th in previous season.

References

External links

Washington State bioHawaii bioHawaii player bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Brian 1980 births Living people People from Thousand Oaks, California American football centers American football long snappers Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players Green Bay Packers players Baltimore Ravens players High school football coaches in California Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football coaches Cal Lutheran Kingsmen football coaches Oregon State Beavers football coaches Portland State Vikings football coaches Occidental Tigers football coaches Washington State Cougars football coaches Ohio Bobcats football coaches