Danny Smith (born November 7, 1953) is an American football coach who is the special teams coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL).[1]
 Smith with the Redskins in August, 2012 | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Special teams coordinator |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | November 7, 1953 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| College: | Edinboro State |
| Career history | |
| As a coach: | |
| |
Early life and college career
editSmith was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1974. During his time there he participated in football, basketball and baseball.[2]
He played as a defensive back and quarterback during his time with the Edinboro Fighting Scots, a team competing in NCAA Division II.[3] In 2007, Smith was inducted into the Edinboro Athletics Hall of Fame.[4]
Coaching career
editSmith began his coaching career at his alma mater, Edinboro College (now PennWest Edinboro), as a Graduate Assistant. Following his season at Edinboro, he began coaching at his High School alma mater, Pittsburgh Central Catholic (1977–78), helping tutor future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino.[5] After two decades of coaching at the collegiate and high school levels, Smith entered the NFL in 1995 as the Philadelphia Eagles' coach for special teams and defensive backs. Subsequently, he occupied various assistant coaching roles with the Detroit, Buffalo, and Washington teams.
Smith joined the Steelers' coaching staff ahead of the 2013 season where he has remained as the special teams coordinator.[6] The Steelers' special teams unit began to become an integral unit to the team under Smith. Most notably, Smith led the special teams unit to winning in the 2016 AFC Divisional round when kicker Chris Boswell, scored on all six field goal attempts to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 18-16.
On November 16, 2023, Smith tore his rotator cuff in three places absorbing a collision with Domontae Kazee on the sideline following the final play of a victory over the Green Bay Packers.[7]
Smith began to see wider praise among the league when the Steelers special teams unit began making dominant plays. In Week 1 of the 2024 season, kicker Chris Boswell successfully made six field goals to win 18-10 over the Atlanta Falcons. Smith would lead the Steelers in replicating this feat with Boswell making six more field goals in an 18-16 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. In four games, the Steelers' special teams unit recorded two blocked field goals, a blocked punt, a blocked extra point, a punt return for a touchdown, and 12 field goals under Smith.[8] Under Smith's leadership, the team began to develop confidence in the unit with Smith making aggressive play calls. During a matchup against the Commanders, Smith's former team, the Steelers attempted to execute a risky fake-punt deep inside Steelers territory. The play was not successful with Miles Killebrew missing James Pierre on the pass, which led to a short touchdown drive for the Commanders. The Steelers ended up defeating Washington 28-27.[9][10]
Personal life
editDanny is the older brother of Ed Smith, a quarterback who set the Big Ten Conference record for career passing yardage while playing for Michigan State and later played in the Canadian Football League (CFL).[11]
References
edit- ^ "Danny Smith". Archived from the original on March 19, 2010. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
- ^ "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016". Ancestry.com. June 15, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
- ^ "Danny Smith". Pro Football History.com. September 7, 1953. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
- ^ "Danny Smith (2007)". Edinboro University Athletics. November 23, 2024. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
- ^ "Danny Smith". www.steelers.com. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
- ^ Abate, Parker (November 29, 2022). "Danny Smith Should Be Worried About His Job After Steelers' Mike Tomlin Specifically Calls Out Special Teams Following Week 12 Win". steelernation.com. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
- ^ "Steelers ST coach tore rotator cuff on sideline hit". ESPN.com. November 16, 2023. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
- ^ Cova, Ernesto (October 30, 2024). "Stats Show How Steelers' Special Teams Has Been Dominating". Steelers Report. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
- ^ Gregson, Rob (November 10, 2024). "Steelers HC Mike Tomlin takes blame for special teams play that nearly cost them the win". A to Z Sports. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
- ^ Vasquez, Andrew (November 10, 2024). "Huge special teams mistake cost Steelers 7 points". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
- ^ "Do You Remember? Eddie Smith". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved July 15, 2023.