'[An] Exciting and Great Opportunity'
!['[An] Exciting and Great Opportunity'](/articleimages/IMG_6533.jpg)
Kevin Smith has gone from coaching football to covering football, an interesting career transition that he has enjoyed.
Smith recently announced his retirement as Ocean City’s head football coach after 14 seasons. Including his time as an assistant, he was with Ocean City for three decades.
In December he retired as a history teacher, a job he held for 33 years.
He said what cemented his decision to go in another direction was being hired by a sports media company called Fans First Sports Network. He not only writes about football, which includes doing film breakdowns, but also produces a regular podcast. His most recent assignment was covering the NFL Combine.
“It’s been very exciting and a great opportunity,” said the 55-year-old Smith.
While he is enjoying his new profession, he has great memories of his old one. As head coach, he won 72 games, which was second most in Ocean City history.
He guided two teams into the South Jersey Group 4 championship game. In 2019 his 9-3 team played in a sectional final before falling to Shawnee. During 2021, the Red Raiders weren’t 12-1 and the loss was to Millville in the South Jersey Group 4 final.
Yet Smith feels his best team was in 2020. That was the COVID-shortened season. Ocean City went 6-2 in a season where there was not the typical playoff system. Teams in the West Jersey Football League were put in so-called playoff pods, and one of the highlights was a 12-7 win over St. Joseph in a West Jersey Football League Bracket B semifinal.
“2020 was our best team and we felt like a state championship team and COVID hurt the season,” he said. “We ended up beating St. Joe in a playoff game and that was gratifying, and they were still a powerhouse at the time.”
Ocean City then lost a non-playoff game to state power DePaul. After that Ocean City was supposed to play Camden, which then pulled out of the final in the pod. Instead, there was a game against Williamstown that Ocean City lost.
The Red Raiders were then able to bounce back for the aforementioned 12-1 season. That three-year reign from 2019-2021, the Red Raiders went 27-6.
This past season Ocean City was again a playoff team, winning a postseason game against Allentown before being eliminated in the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinal at Somerville.
Smith attended high school at Ocean City’s rival Mainland, where he was a quarterback, wingback and defensive back. He then attended Gettysburg, where he was a three-year starter in the secondary.
After that he came to Ocean City as a teacher and was there until his retirement.
“We had some successful seasons, but more than anything, you made such great relationships with people,” he said. “When I stepped down, I probably got over 100 text messages from some people I hadn’t heard from in years, and it was very gratifying.”
He said beyond the x’s and o’s, there is so much to the job of being a head coach.
“Coaching is a people-person game,” he said. “Your ability to manage and create positive relationships is what you do.”
Smith said he isn’t done with coaching. He would like to be a volunteer assistant for Ocean City, his way of staying in the game and continuing to help youngsters grow as players and young men.
Photo: Kevin Smith / Courtesy of Kevin Smith
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Author: Marc Narducci
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