OVERTIME: A few extra points on new Greenbrier coach Brian Smith

Sometimes there's a lot more story than what runs in the paper. Not so much the nuts and bolts of a particular event, but maybe a little extra color or a little bit more detail.

I learned a few other interesting things about Coach Smith while chatting him up after he was named the team's next head football coach at Greenbrier on Friday. They are the sort of things that the parent of a young person who's going to play football for Smith at Greenbrier might find interesting to know, too.

Smith is a former letterman at North Augusta. He starred at linebacker for the Yellow Jackets and was named the team's most valuable player after his senior year. He graduated from North Augusta in 1987 after playing for Coach Hubert Morris.

Smith graduated from Presbyterian College with a business degree in 1991 and soon took a position with The Department of Veterans Affairs in Augusta right out of college.

Needless to say, he's the only coach in the area who can tell you the limitations of the Tampa Cover 2 and how much is too much to pay for a hip replacement for a soldier.  

"I worked in the accounting office eight hours a day crunching numbers," Smith said, who has four children. "That you can say wasn't my real cup of tea and I soon got called into education. Education and coaching was where my heart was. It was where my passion in life was. So I decided to follow that passion."

Smith, 38, played fullback at Prebyterian because "he was too short" to play linebacker. Smith was a three-year letterman at Presbyterian. Smith points out longtime Blue Hose coach Cally Gault as a tremendous influence in that decision.

"Coach Gault wasn't coaching then," Smith said. "But he was basically one of the reasons I decided to go to Presbyterian. He talked to me before I went there."

The last few years on his resume read like a tennis match.

Smith was an assistant at Greenbrier this season. He was a teacher only at North Augusta during the 2006 season. He was an assistant coach at North Augusta coaching the running backs for the 2005 season. Smith was an assistant coach at Greenbrier coaching the defensive backs for the 2004 season.  

"I've been back and forth," he said. "It gets a little confusing."

Smith logged several years with the Jackets as the team's strength coach during his eight seasons there, and he was promoted to defensive coordinator for the 2003 season.

Smith said Greenbrier will continue to run the spread offense and Rodney Holder will most likely call the plays and serve as offensive coordinator next season. There may be a little more option to it, though. Smith also favors the 3-4 defense.

"We are going to be multiple on defense but based in the 3-4," Smith said. "I believe in the 3-4 and bringing a lot of pressure and mixing up about six or seven coverages."

Perhaps the most interesting thing was when I asked if the other candidates would be back. All of the finalists were assistant coaches on Scott Chadwick's staff last year.

Those sort of things can have a way of being awkward. Smith indicated it will not be a problem. It's also the first sign of what kind of leader he just may be.

He holds both men in high esteem. He praised their expertise and loyalty. Smith wanted Hunt back as defensive coordinator. He made a point to mention what he thinks about the former Cross Creek head coach.

“What I appreciate the most about Kevin is the experience he brings to the table,” Smith said. “I am very high on him as a coach, but I think even more of him as a person. I cannot say enough about his character. If Kevin would have been named the head coach here instead of myself, I would not have had any problems with that decision.”

Think about all the jobs you've gotten in your own life. The ones you really wanted or needed at the time. How often would you have said the "other candidate" who didn't get the job was just as deserving as you were?

That about empties out my notebook on Smith. As an aside on Chadwick, I really wish things would have worked out better for him at Greenbrier.

Maybe it was politics. Maybe it was just not being a part of the coaching fraternity at Greenbrier. Maybe it was the teams and coaches in Georgia are a little more talented than the ones he faced in Maryland. Maybe it was simply the grades and eligibility issues that signaled to everyone it was more friction than fun for all involved.  

Maybe it is a little of all those things. Maybe it is none of those things. Coach Chadwick always impressed me with his late-night attention to detail while preparing for an opponent during a typical week. There were a few times where he was putting in teacher hours, coach hours and then newspaperman hours.

"I just want to do all I can to make sure this team has its best chance to win," Chadwick said at around 11 p.m. in his office one night during his first season.

That attitude had me believing he was going to be a winner here.

But the fact is Chadwick went 40-10 in four seasons at Lackey (Md.) and had his team in the state title game two times in that span. And now he's left our area never having shown he could do those same things here.

This is a man's career that got sidetracked a bit while coaching in our area. He showed he could coach with the Evans win last year and the Brunswick win this year. But those were just blips. It's a shame the Chadwick coaching chapter is closed in our area and we never really got to see what he could do at Greenbrier.

Our young people need more good coaches. Not one less.