The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/666058
MICHIGAN FOOTBALL A Division I-AA national champion while starting in the secondary for the Massachusetts Minutemen in 1998, new Michigan safeties coach Brian Smith coached with U-M defensive coordinator Don Brown when they were both at UMass in 2004-05. Smith spent eight seasons in the NFL with the New York Jets from 2007-14, the final two coaching the secondary, and served one year as an assistant linebackers coach for the Phila- delphia Eagles in 2015. He recently discussed why he signed on to coach at Michigan, leav- ing the NFL behind. The Wolverine: Why did you take the Michi- gan job? Smith: Coach [Jim] Harbaugh has had a lot of success everywhere he's been, and I just wanted to be a part of that and learn from him. "And also the chance to learn from Coach Brown, who I worked with before and played with, and the chance to work side by side with him — I couldn't pass up that opportunity." The Wolverine: What was it like to be thrown into spring practice just days after being hired? Smith: "Everything happened fast. I was just learning names the first day on the field. I worked with Coach Brown in the past so that made the transition a lot easier for me. Just spending extra time trying to learn the playbook myself, along with the players. It was a process." The Wolverine: How much of a sales job did Harbaugh have to do with you? Smith: "Not too much, Michigan speaks for itself, in terms of as a university. They have a lot of success in the classroom. The opportunity to be here — I couldn't pass this up." The Wolverine: What was it like playing for Brown? Smith: "It was great to play for Coach Brown in that defense he has. It's changed a little bit over the years but not much. As a player, you love that style of defense." — Michael Spath Former NFL assistant Brian Smith is reuniting at U-M with defensive coordinator Don Brown, whom he played for and later coached under at UMass. PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN Sitting Down With Safeties Coach Brian Smith