Brian Smith (American football coach, born 1979)

Brian Smith (born 1979) is an American football coach and former player. He is the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Rice University. He has also coached at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Michigan, and in the NFL with the New York Jets and the Philadelphia Eagles.

UMass
Smith began his coaching career at his alma mater, UMass as the outside linebackers coach in 2004. For the next two season, he moved to the offensive side, coaching the Minutemen wide receivers. Among the players he mentored was all-pro and pro bowl NFL receiver Victor Cruz.

New York Jets
Prior to the 2007 season, Smith began his eight-year tenure with the New York Jets of the National Football League. His first two seasons, while on Eric Mangini's staff, Smith served as an offensive quality control coach. In 2009, Smith was retained by newly hired head coach Rex Ryan, and moved to the defensive side of the ball as a defensive quality control coach. He worked with the Jets defensive backs for the next six seasons, including being promoted to assistant defensive backs coach for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He mentored cornerback Dee Milliner, who won NFL defensive rookie of the month honors.

Philadelphia Eagles
Following Ryan's firing with the Jets, Smith moved on and joined Chip Kelly's Philadelphia Eagles staff as the assistant linebackers coach. Kelly was fired with two games left in the season, and Smith was again on the move.

Michigan
In 2016, Smith joined Jim Harbaugh's Michigan staff as the safeties coach, re-uniting him with Don Brown, who had recently been hired as the Wolverines defensive coordinator. Smith had both played for Brown when he was the defensive coordinator for the UMass Minutemen and coached with him when Brown was the head coach.

In Smith first season, he helped both of Michigan's starting safeties, Lano Hill and Dymonte Thomas, achieve All-Big Ten honors. Additionally, Smith helped coach a defense that led or ranked second in the NCAA in seven defensive categories, including pass defense, pass efficiency defense, first and third down conversions allowed and scoring defense. The Wolverines allowed 28 red zone trips all season, which was the fewest in the nation. Smith's defensive back group defended 68 passes, with 13 interceptions and three pick-sixes, including one from Hill and the unit allowed only 11 passing touchdowns all season. The defense led the Big Ten in eight categories and only allowed a 43.6% average completion percentage for opposing quarterbacks.

Rice
In early December 2017, it was reported that Smith was leaving Michigan to become the defensive coordinator on Mike Bloomgren's inaugural Rice Owls football staff. The two had previously worked together for four seasons with the Jets, and Smith knew early on that he wanted to be a coordinator on Bloomgren's staff when the opportunity arose.

Smith initially coached the Owls' safeties, in addition to his coordinating responsibilities, for two seasons. He then took over the linebackers room for the 2020 though 2022 seasons, before moving back to the safeties again. Smith's defenses have consistently been as good or better than any Rice defense in this century.

Playing career
Smith was a four-year letter winner and a three-year starter for the UMass Minutemen as a strong safety and cornerback. A team captain as a senior, he also earned All-Atlantic 10, All-New England, and All-ECAC honors for his play. In addition to his on-field prowess, Smith excelled in the classroom, earning academic all-conference honors three times. Smith was a starter on UMass's 1998 team that won the Division I-AA National Championship.

Personal life
Originally from Wilmington, Delaware, Smith graduated cum laude with a degree in accounting.