Brian L. Smith left an assistant’s job at Rice to join K.C. Keeler at Temple and coach closer to home

Brian L. Smith would describe himself as a quiet person, given the fact that he was named the quietest student of his senior class at Concord High School in Wilmington.

The Wilmington native had been the defensive coordinator at Rice for seven seasons and was expected to stay under newly hired head coach Scott Abell. The first-year Temple coach K.C. Keeler poached Smith in the offseason as his first coaching hire for the Owls.

Now, through a reserved coaching style, Smith’s unit has become one of the best defenses in the American.

“It was tough [to leave] because I built a lot of relationships at Rice,” Smith said. “The players, staff, administration, my wife, she was coaching track up there, so a lot of relationships there, and it was tough. It was an easy decision at the end of the day, because I’ve always been a Temple fan.”

Smith started coaching at his alma mater Massachusetts in 2004, but it almost never took off. After his playing tenure with the Minutemen ended in 2001, following an All-Atlantic 10 nod at safety, Smith decided to step away from the game to put his accounting degree to use.

The experiment lasted two years. He spent 24 months at Belfint, Lyons & Shuman, P.A. in Wilmington, he said, not liking it at all.

Smith and Don Brown, then the UMass defensive coordinator, had conversations about going into coaching while he was a player, but he decided against it. In 2004, Smith became tired of his office job. At the time, Brown was hired as the Minutemen’s head coach.

“I missed football, missed being around the guys, [I] missed game day,” Smith said. “I called Coach Brown. He always told me, if I was ever interested in coaching, to hit him up and let him know, so I told him I was interested.”

Smith took a job coaching outside linebackers while sleeping on Brown’s couch until he could get a place of his own. Smith worked under Keith Dudzinski, who served as UMass’ defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach.

“He learned under me for the first year coaching,” Dudzinski said. “I was able to obviously give him some tips and things about the coaching world. Then he went on and he’s been around some great coaches.”

» READ MORE: Hunter Smith could play a larger role in Temple’s run game: ‘We have a lot of trust in him’

He became Dudzinski’s protégé for a year before jumping positions to wide receivers. Another change came two years later. Smith left UMass to become a quality control coach with the New York Jets, learning under Eric Mangini, who inherited the coaching customs of all-time great Bill Belichick.

Rex Ryan eventually took over the Jets, allowing Smith to fully dive into the defensive side of the football. He picked up tips and tricks under Ryan, many of which Smith has instilled in his own defenses. Smith was part of a staff in New York that coached the top-ranked defense in 2009 and marched to an AFC championship game appearance.

“When Rex Ryan came, it was just a different way of how he talked to the players and dealt with the players,” Smith said. “More about getting guys to come together and confidence. I learned a ton of defensive football, how to deal with players, not treating every player the same, but treating them all, learning how players learn.”

Brown came calling in 2016 with an opportunity back in college football, this time at Michigan under coach Jim Harbaugh, now head coach of the Chargers. It was as the defensive backs coach. Smith took it, and in Ann Arbor, he witnessed the grind.

He had six-hour practice days in which the coaches spent the entire day in the sun. Michigan had a camp circuit, holding 40 practices in 20 days during the dog days of summer. That lifestyle cultivated a winning culture at Michigan, something Smith hopes to bring to Keeler’s staff.

» READ MORE: Temple’s coming off a major first conference win. Can it keep it up against unbeaten Navy?

Cedric Calhoun followed Smith from Rice as Temple’s defensive line coach. After initially wanting the defensive coordinator job, Dudzinsk jumped at the chance to reunite with Smith after learning that he had landed the gig and took the linebackers coach position.

For Smith, the role allows him to be a coach and teacher.

“My mom was a teacher and a principal. My dad taught in Chester, so it’s all in the family,” Smith said. “My brother’s a gym teacher. It’s kind of my way of teaching and giving back to the community, really helping guys and mentoring them. Just that part of it, is a lot more rewarding than being an accountant and crunching numbers every day.”