Michael Lee Smith (born September 2, 1981) 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 for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

and a former

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He played for the

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 ...

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) and Texas Tech at the collegiate level. He was drafted by the Ravens in the seventh round of the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 23–24, 2005 NFL seaso ...

. He was most recently the outside linebackers coach for 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 ...

Early years

Smith attended Coronado High School in his hometown of

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...

. In his senior year, he recorded 182 tackles and five interceptions.

College career

Smith 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 ...

at the

position for

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

. In 2001, he was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and All-Big 12 Freshman Team. During his time there, he started in 45 games and is one of only five other Red Raider players to play in 50 games. He graduated in 2004 with a degree in communication studies.

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

Smith was originally signed by the

in the seventh round (234th overall) in the

. In his rookie year he played in six games recording three tackles. He made his NFL debut on October 31 at the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

. In 2006, he played in eight games again recording three tackles. Smith made his first career start against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

on November 12, 2006, in place of the injured

Ray Lewis Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. (born May 15, 1975) is an American former professional American football, football player who played as a Linebacker#Middle linebacker, middle linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens for his entire 17-year career in th ...

. On the first play of the game, the Ravens blitzed. Smith was cut by Titans' center

Kevin Mawae Kevin James Mawae (; born January 23, 1971) is an American football coach and former center who is the assistant offensive line coach for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played in the NFL for 16 seaso ...

and fell onto his left shoulder. He suffered a torn labrum, rotator cuff, biceps tendon and dislocated the shoulder. Over the course of the following year and a half, Smith underwent surgery four times to correct his injuries. He received an injury settlement from the Ravens on July 18, 2008, and was released.

Coaching career

Hawaii

Smith served as the linebackers coach 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 ...

for one year.

New York Jets

He joined the Jets prior to the start of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

as an intern. Linebacker

Aaron Maybin Aaron Michael Maybin (born April 6, 1988) is a former linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL). His college football career was at Penn State University where he received consensus All-American hon ...

has credited Smith for rejuvenating his career. Smith was hired by

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 ...

head coach Mike Leach on December 13, 2011, to serve as the team's linebackers coach. However, Smith elected to stay with the Jets after being promoted to the outside linebackers coach position. Smith received an offer from

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

where he was said to have the opportunity to coach the linebackers in addition to having co-coordinator responsibilities, which he accepted. After discovering that the job did not entail the responsibilities he had thought would be provided, he returned to the Jets.

Texas Tech

In late December 2012, Smith was hired to be the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams use the "Red Raide ...

. He reunited with former teammate

Kliff Kingsbury Kliff Timothy Kingsbury (born August 9, 1979) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously a collegiate football coach from 2008 to ...

, who became the team's head coach earlier the same month. Smith was promoted to the full defensive coordinator position following the resignation of Matt Wallerstedt and added defensive line coaching duties for 2015. It was announced that he would not return to Texas Tech following the 2015 season.

Kansas City Chiefs

Smith was hired by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

as their assistant defensive line coach on April 1, 2016. On January 29, 2018, the Chiefs they had changed Smith's title to outside linebackers coach.

Green Bay Packers

On January 25, 2019, he was hired by the

to serve as the outside linebackers coach. On February 18, 2022, Smith stepped away from the

to pursue other opportunities.

Minnesota Vikings

Smith was hired by the

to serve as the outside linebackers/ pass rush specialist for the 2022 season.

References

External links

Texas Tech Red Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Mike 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Lubbock, Texas American football linebackers Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Baltimore Ravens players Coronado High School (Lubbock, Texas) alumni Players of American football from Texas New York Jets coaches Kansas City Chiefs coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches Green Bay Packers coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches