Coach Terry Smith has miced psychology, biomechanics and a rapier wit to become an immensely influential and successful football coach. He also sees privacy and guarding his personal space as vital to his freedom. Coach Smith has done his best to evade off-field attention and prefers that the spotlight and accolades go to the football players.
Smith starred and coached at Gateway High School, one of the top teams in the state, and the WPIAL. From 2002 to 2012, Smith led Gateway to a 101-30 mark and four WPIAL runner-up finishes.
Smith was a highly successful head coach and the community was shocked when he lost his job after the 2012 season, something that still remains a puzzle. Smith filed a complaint against Gateway with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Gateway School District paid him a lump sum to keep the federal discrimination complaint from reaching a courtroom.
It would have been easy to start wallowing in self-pity, but Smith wouldn’t allow himself that luxury, which ultimately would have served no purpose.
In 2013, Smith was hired as the wide receivers coach at Temple University and helped the Owl’s passing game reach new heights. Temple set a school record for passing yards and receiving touchdowns.
New Nittany Lions and former Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin met Smith when Franklin was recruiting Gateway players while he was an assistant at the University of Maryland. Hiring Smith was a priority of Franklin’s.
Smith is now the defensive back coach and recruiting coordinator at his alma mater Penn State University.
Smith, nicknamed Superfly, still ranks among the schools’ best with 108 career receptions.
“Back when I was a player, I never dreamed of coaching,” Smith said. “After I got done playing pro football, my dad suggested I go try high school coaching. I said, ‘What the heck. I’ll try it.’ Here, 20 years later, I’m back at Penn State. It’s all surreal.”
Penn State has one of the nation’s top ranked defenses and his secondary is playing extremely well. A lot of people are surprised because ‘Superfly’ Smith is best known as an offensive guru.
As a high school coach, you’ve got to coach everything,” Smith said. “I’ve coached guys like Justin King, Lydell Sargeant, Corey Brown, Anthony Davis, Montae Nicholson and Dayonne Nunley, guys that went on to play major Division I football and in the NFL as defensive backs. It’s coaching. It’s communicating. It’s assignment driven. It’s fundamental driven. That’s what I can do.”
He grew up on a street where you learned how to play football from the older kids and you taught and mentored the younger ones.
Monroeville’s Firethorn Drive, has raised the likes of, Smith (Penn State), Harvey Smith (WVU), Sammy Nelson (Star of the 1974 WPIAL championship team), Lyndon Byrd (WPIAL 100 and 200 meter champion), John Gay (WVU/Steelers), Arron Smith (Pitt), Bj Stevens (Penn State), Justin King (Penn State), Darrin Jackson, Nate Gay (Virginia Tech), Jerry Lee (Edinboro), Cory Brown (Ohio State), Terry Smith (Penn State).
Inspiration comes from others, while motivation comes from within. Terry has always been inspired by his older brother Harvey Smith.
“Well Terry and I, we’re brothers and I’m actually Terry’s older brother by five years. We’ve obviously have always had a great relationship both personally as well as professionally,” said Harvey. “We’ve always made it a habit of bouncing ideas off of each other-be it him giving me a call during the season and asking my advice or me calling to get his opinion or advice.”
Harvey earned All-East honors while playing at WVU and was inducted into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. He was a 2004 inductee into the Gateway Sports Hall of Fame. In 2014 he was the head football coach of the Pittsburgh Passion Women’s Professional football team and led the team to a National Championship. Former Pittsburgh Steelers great Franco Harris is the co-owner of the Passion.
Where did Harvey’s inspiration come from?
“Well that’s a great question. I had the ultimate role model number one-being God. I learned that from my mother. My mother is a very strong, spiritual woman. But I also had a natural role model in my father-who is a tremendous man,” said Harvey. “My father spent many, many, many days and hours working with not only myself by my younger brother Terry as well. We had a great role model right at home every day. Unfortunately for far too many of the young men today they do not have role models in their lives.”
Harvey Smith Sr. is at retirement age but recently wrote a great new book entitled “The American Revolution” and between book signings and guest appearances he enjoys watching his son coach at Penn State.
Terry Smith knows that the biggest challenge is meeting the high expectations of Penn State’s enormous fan base.
He knows that nobody succeeds at the highest level of college football without extraordinary talent and he seen plenty athletes with incredible abilities fall far short of their ultimate potential. Many never had the discipline and fortitude to work hard enough to becomes champions. Instead they fall victims to distractions such as chasing women around, recreational drug use and even criminal activity.
He is only interested in recruiting and coaching those few who combine gifted talent with strong work ethic, intelligence, self-discipline, patience and relentless drive to improve and win a Big 10 Championship and a National Championship.
As long as coaches James Franklin and Terry Smith are in Happy Valley and recruiting City League and WPIAL players. With pride we can say.
“WE ARE PENN STATE”!!!!!!!!!!!
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