Sherman Smith
{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1954)}}
{{About||the musician|Sherman Smith (musician)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Sherman Smith
| number = 47
| position = Running back
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1954|11|1}}
| birth_place = Youngstown, Ohio, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 4
| weight_lbs = 225
| high_school = Youngstown (OH) North
| college = Miami (OH)
| draftyear = 1976
| draftround = 2
| draftpick = 58
| pastteams =
| pastcoaching =
- Redmond (WA) HS (1984–1989)
Assistant - Miami (OH) (1990–1991)
Running backs coach - Illinois (1992–1994)
Tight ends coach - Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans (1995–2007)
Running backs coach - Washington Redskins ({{NFL Year|2008}}–{{NFL Year|2009}})
Offensive coordinator & running backs coach - Seattle Seahawks ({{NFL Year|2010}}–{{NFL Year|2017}})
Running backs coach
| highlights =
| statlabel1 = Rushing attempts
| statvalue1 = 834
| statlabel2 = Rushing yards
| statvalue2 = 3,520
| statlabel3 = Receptions
| statvalue3 = 217
| statlabel4 = Receiving yards
| statvalue4 = 2,393
| statlabel5 = Total TDs
| statvalue5 = 38
| pfr = SmitSh00
| pfrcoach = SmitSh0
}}
Sherman Lennell Smith (born November 1, 1954) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for eight seasons with the Seattle Seahawks and San Diego Chargers between 1976 and 1983. He was also the running backs coach for the Seahawks, as well as the former offensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins. After his playing days were over, he embarked upon a second career as a football coach, starting at Redmond Jr. high school, then college, and finally back in the National Football League (NFL) with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, Redskins, and Seahawks.{{Cite web |title=Sherman Smith Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SmitSh00.htm |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}
Early life
Smith played quarterback of the North High School football team in his native Youngstown, Ohio. After graduation, he attended Miami University in Ohio, playing the same position and leading the Redskins to the Mid-American Conference title in each of his last three seasons, with a stellar record of 33–1–1.
He is a cousin of former NFL tight end Mike Cobb, whose playing career at Michigan State overlapped with Smith's at Miami. Their respective teams faced each other in the 1975 season, with Michigan State winning 14–13 which was Miami’s only regular season loss that year.
Professional playing career
Smith was selected in the second round of the 1976 NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks as a running back. As a Seahawk, Smith was called "The Tank" in reference to the Sherman Tank because of his performance to run through tackles. He was the first offensive player picked by the new expansion team in its first season.{{cite web |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2001798299_oldhawk22.html |title=Catching up with Sherman Smith: No. 47 coaches Eddie George now |author=José Miguel Romero |publisher=Seattle Times |date=November 22, 2003 |access-date=December 16, 2007}} He was the first Seahawk to rush for over 100 yards in a game when he ran for 124 yards against the Atlanta Falcons on November 7, 1976.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197611070sea.htm|title = Atlanta Falcons at Seattle Seahawks - November 7th, 1976|website = Pro-Football-Reference.com}} Smith led the team in rushing in his first four seasons, eventually amassing 3,429 yards and 28 touchdowns in his seven years with the team. He also caught the ball 210 times for a total of 2,445 yards and 10 touchdowns. He played sparingly for the San Diego Chargers in the 1983 season.
NFL career statistics
| class="wikitable mw-collapsible" |
| colspan="2"| Legend |
|---|
| Bold
| Career high |
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | ||||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="2"| Games ! colspan="5"| Rushing ! colspan="5"| Receiving | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | |
| 1976 | SEA
| 12 || 9 || 119 || 537 || 4.5 || 53 || 4 || 36 || 384 || 10.7 || 34 || 1 | |||||||||||
| 1977 | SEA
| 14 || 14 || 163 || 763 || 4.7 || 39 || 4 || 30 || 419 || 14.0 || 44 || 2 | |||||||||||
| 1978 | SEA
| 12 || 12 || 165 || 805 || 4.9 || 67 || 6 || 28 || 366 || 13.1 || 64 || 1 | |||||||||||
| 1979 | SEA
| 16 || 15 || 194 || 775 || 4.0 || 31 || 11 || 48 || 499 || 10.4 || 35 || 4 | |||||||||||
| 1980 | SEA
| 3 || 2 || 23 || 94 || 4.1 || 23 || 0 || 6 || 72 || 12.0 || 19 || 1 | |||||||||||
| 1981 | SEA
| 16 || 8 || 83 || 253 || 3.0 || 21 || 3 || 44 || 406 || 9.2 || 28 || 1 | |||||||||||
| 1982 | SEA
| 9 || 8 || 63 || 202 || 3.2 || 19 || 0 || 19 || 196 || 10.3 || 39 || 0 | |||||||||||
| 1983 | SDG
| 13 || 2 || 24 || 91 || 3.8 || 20 || 0 || 6 || 51 || 8.5 || 21 || 0 | |||||||||||
| colspan="2"| | 95 | 70 | 834 | 3,520 | 4.2 | 67 | 28 | 217 | 2,393 | 11.0 | 64 | 10 |
Coaching career
The following year, Smith began teaching and coaching at Redmond Junior High School, then at Redmond High School in the state of Washington. He became the running back coach at Miami University, his alma mater, in 1990. Between 1992 and 1994, he worked as the tight end and running back coach at the University of Illinois. In 1995, Smith joined the staff of the Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans) as running back coach, where he helped mold Eddie George into one of the league's elite running backs. The organization promoted Smith in 2006, giving him the title of assistant head coach in addition to his continuing duties as running back coach.{{cite web |url=http://www.titansradio.com/coaches/smith.html |title=Running Backs Coach Sherman Smith |publisher=titansradio.com |access-date=December 16, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013223229/http://titansradio.com/coaches/smith.html |archive-date=October 13, 2007 |url-status=dead }}
In 2008, Smith left the Titans to join the Washington Redskins as offensive coordinator, reuniting with his former Seahawks teammate, Jim Zorn, who had been named head coach of the Redskins.{{Cite web |title=Titans' Smith joins Redskins as offensive coordinator |url=http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d806b5454/printable/titans-smith-joins-redskins-as-offensive-coordinator |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222070407/http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d806b5454/printable/titans-smith-joins-redskins-as-offensive-coordinator |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 22, 2015 |access-date=December 13, 2015 |website=NFL.com}}
After the 2009 season, Zorn was fired and Mike Shanahan was named as the new head coach in Washington. Smith was not retained on staff by Shanahan. Shortly thereafter Smith was reunited with his former team, the Seattle Seahawks, when hired as a position coach (running backs).{{cite web |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/jason-reid/seahawks-hire-sherman-smith-to.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919233822/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/jason-reid/seahawks-hire-sherman-smith-to.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 19, 2012|title=Seahawks hire Sherman Smith to coach running backs |work= washingtonpost.com |access-date=January 22, 2010}} He won his first Super Bowl title when the Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.{{Cite web |title=Super Bowl XLVIII - Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos - February 2nd, 2014 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201402020den.htm |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}
As of February 17, 2017, Smith was no longer with the Seattle Seahawks due to a change to the position made by head coach Pete Carroll.
Personal life
Smith's children are Shavonne, Sherman, and Deland. Deland is the Las Vegas Raiders running backs coach, Deland McCullough. The two had known each other since Smith was recruiting McCullough to the Miami RedHawks when McCullough was 17, but only discovered they were biologically related in 2017,{{cite web |title=Identity |url=https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/20491648 |website=ESPN.com |access-date=June 19, 2025}} as detailed in the ESPN.com feature "{{cite web |last=Spain |first=Sarah |title=Runs in the Family |url=http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/20327661/the-story-deland-mccullough |website=ESPN.com |access-date=June 19, 2025}}," and the 2021 Kendrick Brothers film Show Me the Father.{{cite web |title=Show Me the Father |url=https://www.showmethefathermovie.com/ |website=ShowMeTheFatherMovie.com |access-date=June 19, 2025}} Deland’s son, Diem McCullough, is also Smith’s grandson. Smith is also the grandfather of Isaiah, Sherman, and Destiny — the children of his son Sherman. Destiny ran track collegiately at the University of North Carolina Wilmington;{{cite web |title=Destiny Smith – Women's Track and Field – UNCW Athletics |url=https://uncwsports.com/sports/womens-track-and-field/roster/destiny-smith/7509 |website=UNCW Athletics |access-date=June 20, 2025}} he is also the grandfather of Victoria ("Vickie"), the adopted daughter of his daughter Shavonne. His brother, Darrell K. Smith, was a former CFL All-Star.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{sports links}}
{{Miami RedHawks quarterback navbox}}
{{Seahawks1976DraftPicks}}
{{1976 Seattle Seahawks}}
{{Super Bowl XLVIII}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Sherman}}
Category:Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio
Category:American football running backs
Category:Miami RedHawks football players
Category:Seattle Seahawks players
Category:San Diego Chargers players
Category:Washington Redskins coaches
Category:Seattle Seahawks coaches
Category:Houston Oilers coaches
Category:Tennessee Titans coaches