 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: | |
| |
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 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]
Smith 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]
Danny 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]
Super Bowl XIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1978 season. The Steelers defeated the Cowboys by the score of 35–31. The game was played on January 21, 1979, at the Miami Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, the fifth and last time that the Super Bowl was played in that stadium.
Super Bowl XXX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1995 season. The Cowboys defeated the Steelers by the score of 27–17, winning their fifth Super Bowl in team history. The game was played on January 28, 1996, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, the first time the Super Bowl was played in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Jeffrey Montgomery Reed is an American former professional football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2002 until 2010, and is third all-time behind Gary Anderson and Chris Boswell for the most points scored by a Steeler.
Joseph Eugene Porter Sr. is an American professional football coach and former player. He played as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Colorado State Rams and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 1999 NFL draft. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Porter won Super Bowl XL with the Steelers and was also a member of the Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers drafted his son, Joey Porter Jr., with the thirty-second overall selection of the 2023 NFL draft.
Joshua Taylor Scobee is an American former professional football placekicker. He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL draft. He also played for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at Louisiana Tech, setting several school records.
Shaun Christopher Suisham is a Canadian former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, and Pittsburgh Steelers. He was signed by the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football for the Bowling Green Falcons.
Michael Pettaway Tomlin is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the Steelers in 2007, he has led the team to 11 playoff appearances, seven division titles, three AFC Championship Games, two Super Bowl appearances, and a title in Super Bowl XLIII. At age 36, Tomlin became the youngest head coach to win the Super Bowl, a record which was later broken by Sean McVay in Super Bowl LVI. Tomlin holds the record for most consecutive non-losing seasons to begin a coaching career with 18 and has never had a losing season. Only Tom Landry (21) and Bill Belichick (19) have had longer such streaks at any point in their coaching careers. Upon Belichick's departure from the New England Patriots following the 2023 season, Tomlin became the NFL's longest-tenured active head coach.
Jacoby Rashi'd Jones was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). Selected in the third round of the 2007 NFL draft by the Houston Texans, Jones also played with the Baltimore Ravens, San Diego Chargers, and Pittsburgh Steelers before playing with the Monterrey Steel of the National Arena League in 2017.
Randy Fichtner is an American football coach. He spent 14 seasons as a part of the Pittsburgh Steelers' coaching staff from 2007 to 2020. He most recently served as their offensive coordinator, a position he held for three seasons.
The 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 76th season in the National Football League (NFL). The season concluded with the team winning Super Bowl XLIII to become the first franchise in the NFL with six Super Bowl titles.
The Ravens–Steelers rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.
A fake field goal is a trick play in American football. Simply, it involves a running or passing play done out of a kick formation. Usually the holder will throw or run. Less frequently, the placekicker, who virtually never handles the ball in an American football game, will serve as the passer or rusher on a fake field goal.
A kicking specialist or kick specialist, sometimes referred to as a kicker, especially when referring to a placekicker, is a player on gridiron football special teams who performs punts, kickoffs, field goals and/or point after touchdowns. The special teams counterpart of a kicking specialist is a return specialist.
The 2011 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 79th season as a professional sports franchise and as a member of the National Football League (NFL). It was the twelfth season under the leadership of general manager Kevin Colbert and the fifth under head coach Mike Tomlin. The Steelers hoped to return to the Super Bowl and defend their AFC championship from 2010, but suffered a 29–23 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. The Steelers played all of their home games at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Christopher Lynn Boswell is an American professional football placekicker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Rice and was signed by the Houston Texans in 2014 as an undrafted free agent and has also spent time with the New York Giants. He is currently the most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history on field goal attempts of 50 yards or more.
The 2015 Denver Broncos season was the franchise's 46th season in the National Football League (NFL) and the 56th overall. It was also the fourth season with Peyton Manning as the team's starting quarterback, as well as the final season of Manning's 18-year NFL career.
The 2021 season was the Pittsburgh Steelers' 89th season in the National Football League (NFL), their 22nd and final season under general manager Kevin Colbert and their 15th under head coach Mike Tomlin. They failed to improve upon their 12–4 record from 2020 and failed to win their division in back to back years for the first time since 2016–2017. However, despite only having a 6% chance to make the playoffs according to FiveThirtyEight before Week 18, they did clinch a Wild Card spot that week as well as make the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 2014–2017 after defeating the Baltimore Ravens, combined with the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers not tying and the Jacksonville Jaguars upsetting the Indianapolis Colts; this came despite the Steelers finishing with a -55 point differential. However the Steelers were defeated in the first round of the playoffs by the Kansas City Chiefs 42–21.
The Broncos–Steelers rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Nick Sciba is an American football placekicker who is a free agent. He played college football at Wake Forest.
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