Inspiring Redskins Coach Was One of Us

ASHBURN, Va. -- This sounded familiar. Just like that, I was back to the future, all because of the following: When Washington Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell began speaking about the knowledgeable, inspirational and all of the other impressive ways of Sherman Smith, he couldn't stop.

The accolades kept flowing, and so did the joy.

Said a beaming Campbell, among the slew of Smith disciples throughout the Redskins' team headquarters, "Oh, he's very motivational. He talks about things involving life as well as football, and he can find a way to relate anything that happens to you on a daily bases to playing football. He just comes prepared every single day, and whenever he gets up to speak, everybody's attention goes directly toward him."

I mean, was this 2009 at Redskins Park, where Smith is spending his second season as a resident Dalai Lama disguised as an offensive coordinator? Or was this the mid-1970s at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where Smith was the closest thing to a visible star among a bunch of hidden ones at Hepburn Hall?

As for the answer, this was the past and the present, right down to Smith's full set of gray-less black hair. He hasn't changed physically, mentally or spiritually, and he remains strikingly modest despite everything. That included our discussion of the role he held among us at Hepburn Hall, when that three-story, Georgian-styled dormitory on the north side of campus was stuffed with future millionaires, nationally acclaimed coaches, pro players and even sports journalists.

We just didn't know that was happening at the time. We did know about Smith's promise of greatness, and this was before his 24 years of NFL coaching, including his dozen seasons with the Tennessee Titans as Jeff Fisher's top lieutenant.

This also was before Smith joined current Redskins head coach Jim Zorn as the original standouts of the expansion Seattle Seahawks. While Zorn was the scrambling quarterback, Smith was the prolific tailback who led the franchise in rushing during each of its first four years.



The Smith we knew was a bruising yet graceful sprinter at quarterback for Miami teams that spent three years going 32-1-1, with consecutive bowl victories over Florida , Georgia and South Carolina. Their loss was a one-pointer at Michigan State, and their tie was 7-7 at Purdue. They ended those seasons ranked 15th, 10th and 12th respectively in the Associated Press polls. If you combine that with Smith's charisma that was more impressive due to his easygoing nature, he was a Hepburn Hall legend, both athletically and personally.

Even so, Smith used to cringe with such talk.

Just as Smith does now.

"I'll tell you what. I never thought of myself in the way that some people may have thought of me back then, and I certainly never looked at myself in a special kind of way," said Smith, 54, a native of Youngstown, Ohio. He is a devout Christian, who has been married to his Miami sweetheart, Sharon, for more than 30 years. Even though he is a highly sought-after public speaker who lives to encourage others -- especially youth, including his son and daughter, he prefers the shadows.

Just as Smith did then.

"I always looked at myself at Miami as the quarterback of this football team, and I just said to myself, 'I'm no better than anybody else here,' " Smith said. "I never got caught up in those things, even when I played in the NFL. It was like at Miami, 'I'm playing football today at this moment, and tomorrow, I'll be in the classroom, and I'm your classmate.' I didn't want to be identified as the jock and have folks say, 'Hey, here comes the quarterback.' I always looked at myself as just a guy."

That's how most saw themselves at our Hepburn Hall -- just a guy, hoping to become a productive guy. Which is why what happened later was such a shock to reality: Several of our Hepburn Hall folks become notable guys. I'll name much of that Hepburn Hall honor roll next week, when you'll hear about those of us who prospered from baseball to basketball to about any profession you can name.

As for now, consider this: At least four of Smith's football teammates from our Hepburn Hall joined Smith as prominent coaches or significant NFL players: Ron Zook, serving as head coach at Florida and now at Illinois; Randy Walker, working as the head man at Northwestern before his tragic death; Rob Carpenter, becoming a franchise running back with the Houston Oilers and later the New York Giants; and Brad Cousino, going from a walk-on to a first-team All-America selection to an NFL player.

What caused this Hepburn Hall thing?

"We just had a tremendous bond as a football team, and then you had the other guys who didn't play football or other sports, and they also were part of that bond," said Smith, referring to those of us who eventually wrote for a living or something. "You had this wonderful sense of community at Miami at that time. It was certainly that way back at Hepburn Hall, where everybody enjoyed each other. It was like Rodney King said, 'Why can't we just get along?' Well, back during that time, we just all got along. I mean, the entire time I was in that dorm I just loved it."

So did I.

For instance: Do you remember Jane, Hepburn Hall's Florence (as in the sassy maid on The Jeffersons) who gave us fresh linens twice a week, cleaned the bathrooms and kept egos in check with her tongue or her stare?

Smith laughed, saying, "That's right, man." Then he laughed again, adding, "Whether it was Jane or one of the other maids or somebody else in the dormitory, they took care of us. They really did. My four years at Miami, I just had a great time. I had a great education, and I was part of a great football program."

That was courtesy of Smith, who helped turn Miami (Ohio), not only into the real Miami in football before the Florida one, but into the early version of Boise State, Utah, TCU and other mid-major programs currently known as BCS busters.

Actually, what Miami did back then was more impressive. Parity wasn't en vogue, and the big boys of college football could stockpile talent with more liberal rules involving scholarship limits and academic requirements.

Smith's Miami teams whipped them anyway.

The SEC, the ACC, the Big Ten.

It didn't matter.

"You have to start with the coaching staff (Bill Mallory and then Dick Crum), and then you had the players," said Smith, with his eyes growing. "We knew that nobody expected us to do well against those big teams, but we worked hard. We believed we could win every game, and it was the same routine for us. We would have a pregame meal at the student center, and then we would go back to our dorms, and we would sit in our rooms talking about how we were going to win -- not if we were going to win.

"It wasn't a cockiness, either. It was just a confident attitude that we had. We were ready, because we worked hard. Our attitude was just that, 'We're going out here today, and we're going to win this game.' There were no egos, and there was nobody trying to be the star or trying to be the main guy."

Guess we're back to Hepburn Hall.

Terence Moore, Class of '78, was part of Hepburn Hall, a dormitory at Miami (Ohio) University that produced a slew of prominent sports figures. He will continue with part three of this four-part series next Wednesday.