Gene Smith (born December 31, 1963) 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 ...

executive who served as the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) from 2009 to 2012.

Early life and college

Smith was born in Willard, Ohio. He attended

Heidelberg College Heidelberg University is a private university in Tiffin, Ohio. Founded in 1850, it was known as Heidelberg College until 1889 and from 1926 to 2009. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ. History Heidelberg University was founded b ...

, serving as a captain of the football team while playing as a

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

. From 1986 to 1988, Smith worked 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 ...

as a graduate assistant and later served as an assistant coach. He worked at

Edinboro University PennWest Edinboro is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University, a multi-campus public university in Pennsylvania. Located in the town of Edinboro, the campus has more than 4,600 enrolled students. History Edinboro University was founded ...

from 1989 to 1994, serving as an assistant coach, recruiting coordinator, and strength and conditioning coordinator.

NFL career

Smith joined the Jaguars in 1994 as a college scout. He was promoted to director of college scouting in 2000, and then took on the role of Executive Director of College and Pro Personnel in January 2008. He became the first general manager in Jaguars history on January 12, 2009, after the resignation of

James "Shack" Harris James Larnell Harris (born July 20, 1947) is an American former professional football player and executive. He played as a quarterback in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL) with the Buffalo Bills, Los Ange ...

, who had been the team's vice-president of player personnel. Smith was fired on December 31, 2012. following a 2–14 season which was the worst record in team history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Gene 1963 births Living people American football defensive linemen Edinboro Fighting Scots football coaches Heidelberg Student Princes football players Jacksonville Jaguars executives Ohio Bobcats football coaches National Football League general managers People from Willard, Ohio American football scouts Players of American football from Ohio Coaches of American football from Ohio