Posted 11:34 pm Monday, December 28, 2009
Smith Brothers Meet Today
By TRAVIS YOESTING
Staff Writer
Jeff Smith has coached against a lot of colleagues that he's liked in his 15 years at Grace Community School, but never against one that he's loved.
That will change bright and early Monday morning as Jeff's Lady Cougars take on the Lady Lions of John Tyler, coached by none other than his older brother, Mike Smith.
Staff Writer
Jeff Smith has coached against a lot of colleagues that he's liked in his 15 years at Grace Community School, but never against one that he's loved.
That will change bright and early Monday morning as Jeff's Lady Cougars take on the Lady Lions of John Tyler, coached by none other than his older brother, Mike Smith.
The game, part of the Cougar-Patriot Classic Girls Holiday Basketball Tournament, was Jeff's idea, given that he set up the brackets.
“I was crazy enough to put the bracket together, so I guess I kind of made it happen,” Jeff said, adding with a laugh, “It was the only way to ensure one of us made the winner's bracket.”
“I was crazy enough to put the bracket together, so I guess I kind of made it happen,” Jeff said, adding with a laugh, “It was the only way to ensure one of us made the winner's bracket.”
Mike has a different theory on why Jeff pitted the teams against each other in the first round.
“I don't care what he says, he's just making it convenient for my dad to not have to sit through two ball games,” Mike said with a smile. “He just wants him to have to come to one.”
It makes sense that their father, Don, would be the reason behind the brotherly battle. After all, it was Don's influence that helped push Mike and Jeff into coaching basketball.
Like Father Like Sons
Don was a fine athlete in his day. He played for the legendary Ralph Tasker and won a state championship at tiny Lovington, N.M., in a Hoosiers-like story in 1949.
“He was from a little town in New Mexico that went up to Albuquerque and beat bigger schools,” Jeff said. “There was only one classification, so his basketball career was very similar to Hoosiers.”
His play for Tasker — who amassed 1,122 wins over 52 years, among the top few all time — earned Don a basketball scholarship to the University of New Mexico. The Smiths ultimately were a sports family.
“Our mom has passed away, but both of our parents, during all of our athletics in high school and junior high, they never missed a game,” Mike said. “They were very supportive of us. It became the fun part of our lives.
“Everybody's families are different, but ours pretty much revolved around athletics.”
And because of Don, Mike and Jeff both were lured to basketball.
“When I was a kid I can remember going through his old year books from Lovington High School and looking at his basketball pictures,” Jeff said. “It was just thrilling. It was just fun hearing him tell stories … he would remember every game with great detail and tell it to us.”
Driveway Rivalry
Mike and Jeff would play countless games out on the driveway. Jeff said history would dictate that he won more games, but Mike remembered it differently.
“He never won a game as far as I remember,” said Mike, eight years Jeff's senior. “He was so much better than me, I was just meaner. I just wouldn't let him win so I cheated; whatever it took to win.”
It was around that time that Mike and Jeff, both graduates of Cedar Hill High School, began to develop an inclination toward coaching.
“We were doing it (coaching) with our friends around the block,” Mike said. “We were having football games and track meets and all kinds of stuff all the time Jeff was growing up.
“He was a great athlete, so being around him and watching him grow up and go to that school and all that stuff …”
Jeff interjected with a grin: “What he's trying to say, he started coaching me when I was in diapers and he hasn't stopped.”
Jamies and Joannas
But it wasn't just about the Xs and Os for the Smiths, but the Jimmys and Joes, or in this case, the Jamies and Joannas.
“I think the way we were both raised and our love to help people and help kids (got us into coaching),” Mike said.
It is in that context that the Smiths find to be the most rewarding aspect of coaching.
“What I have enjoyed in Jeff's coaching career is seeing him have similar relationships,” Mike said. “We all have different relationships with kids, and that's where you get your rewards. It's not the winning and losing. Certainly, Jeff has picked a great place for him to be and to be able to have a lot of rewards with the relationships that you build with these kids.
“Watching Jeff and his team, realizing how much they love him and how hard they play for him has been real rewarding to me to see that happen because it's an experience that only coaches can explain.”
Jeff said that the positive influences of his high school coaches also pushed him to become a coach. Mike jokingly responded by saying that his poor experience with his coaches in high school pushed him to be a coach to do things the right way.
And while the right way to coach is undoubtedly subjective, Mike and Jeff do things in a positive way, through encouragement of their players.Nice Guys Can Finish FirstAfter graduating from North Texas State University in 1977, Mike headed to Seminole to be an assistant football coach. Needing to coach a second sport, he of course chose (boys) basketball.
“In Texas that's the way you're going to start,” Mike said. “You're going to start as a football coach and become a basketball coach. Back then it was even more so than it is now.”
It didn't take long for Mike to have success in basketball. In '79, Seminole won a state title in basketball with head coach Leland Caffey, who showed Mike a new way to coach.
“(Caffey) was probably the one that I realized it was OK to be a nice guy and coach,” Mike said. “You can do it either way. Not that it's the right way; it's just the way that I wanted to do it.”
In addition to learning under Caffey, Mike also learned from Tasker, who was a mere 30 miles away in Hobbs, N.M. — where Tasker coached for 49 years after winning the title with Lovington.
Mike, propelled by the success of the Seminole basketball team, got his first head coaching job at Lufkin Central High School as the boys basketball coach. He moved on to Canton in 1983 and then Lindale in '87. By 1990, he had moved out of coaching and into administration.
The Girl's Game However, being a non-coaching administrator didn't last long. When Lindale needed a new girls' basketball coach on short notice in 1991, Mike decided to take the job because his daughter Mandy was on the team.
Jeff all the while had begun following Mike's teams intently, more than an average fan Jeff said, before he got into coaching.
“Finally, my wife one day said, ‘Why don't you just do what you love?'” Jeff said. “So I got into coaching and teaching.
“Because (Mike) coached girls and I was close to him and saw the things that he was doing and relationships that he was building and all that stuff, when Grace had a girl's juggernaut and it was junior high first two years, I took it and loved it ever since.”
After 13 years coaching varsity, Jeff has a 232-179 record and he hopes to keep coaching there while his kids go to the school.
“I have a daughter in K-5 and my hope is that she graduates from Grace and that will make 26 years of a kid at Grace, consecutively,” Jeff said. “The school is so much more than just about athletics or basketball and it's the right fit for me.”
Coming Home Again
But while Jeff was excelling at Grace, Mike moved to Colorado, where he expected to retire. However, 12 years later Mike's kids had all moved back to Texas.
“I now have five grandchildren and so we were just missing out on being a grandparent, so we wanted to come back to the Tyler area,” Mike said. “I can't tell you enough about how I think God just provided this job for me because it's just been a true blessing to be here and be here at John Tyler with the kids that are here.
“It's just been very rewarding and I'm very thankful.”
And now that both Mike and Jeff are coaching in East Texas, Don can continue going to his son's games.
“One of the things I still treasure — whether I was playing or now as a coach — is if Dad's at the game, which he still comes to our games, is talking with him about it afterwards,” Jeff said. “Because he loves to ask questions: Why did you call this timeout or why didn't you do this? We still treasure that.”
And it's something that Mike, Jeff, Don and all the Smiths will all be able to treasure together after the game on Monday.
“(My wife is) going to be pulling for John Tyler and (Jeff's) family's going to be pulling for Grace and when it's over we're going to hug and we're going to move on,” Mike said.
But before they move on, they'll share what could be an emotional basketball game.
“It's funny, because you just never know how it's going to hit you,” Jeff said, recalling an unpredictably emotional game in Lindale soon after his brother had moved to Colorado. “So having him on the other bench, I'm sure it will be emotional for me. I just can't predict what that will bring out. But yeah, I know that will be emotional.
“I like a lot of coaches in East Texas, but I've never loved one that I've gone against.”
It makes sense that their father, Don, would be the reason behind the brotherly battle. After all, it was Don's influence that helped push Mike and Jeff into coaching basketball.
Like Father Like Sons
Don was a fine athlete in his day. He played for the legendary Ralph Tasker and won a state championship at tiny Lovington, N.M., in a Hoosiers-like story in 1949.
“He was from a little town in New Mexico that went up to Albuquerque and beat bigger schools,” Jeff said. “There was only one classification, so his basketball career was very similar to Hoosiers.”
His play for Tasker — who amassed 1,122 wins over 52 years, among the top few all time — earned Don a basketball scholarship to the University of New Mexico. The Smiths ultimately were a sports family.
“Our mom has passed away, but both of our parents, during all of our athletics in high school and junior high, they never missed a game,” Mike said. “They were very supportive of us. It became the fun part of our lives.
“Everybody's families are different, but ours pretty much revolved around athletics.”
And because of Don, Mike and Jeff both were lured to basketball.
“When I was a kid I can remember going through his old year books from Lovington High School and looking at his basketball pictures,” Jeff said. “It was just thrilling. It was just fun hearing him tell stories … he would remember every game with great detail and tell it to us.”
Driveway Rivalry
Mike and Jeff would play countless games out on the driveway. Jeff said history would dictate that he won more games, but Mike remembered it differently.
“He never won a game as far as I remember,” said Mike, eight years Jeff's senior. “He was so much better than me, I was just meaner. I just wouldn't let him win so I cheated; whatever it took to win.”
It was around that time that Mike and Jeff, both graduates of Cedar Hill High School, began to develop an inclination toward coaching.
“We were doing it (coaching) with our friends around the block,” Mike said. “We were having football games and track meets and all kinds of stuff all the time Jeff was growing up.
“He was a great athlete, so being around him and watching him grow up and go to that school and all that stuff …”
Jeff interjected with a grin: “What he's trying to say, he started coaching me when I was in diapers and he hasn't stopped.”
Jamies and Joannas
But it wasn't just about the Xs and Os for the Smiths, but the Jimmys and Joes, or in this case, the Jamies and Joannas.
“I think the way we were both raised and our love to help people and help kids (got us into coaching),” Mike said.
It is in that context that the Smiths find to be the most rewarding aspect of coaching.
“What I have enjoyed in Jeff's coaching career is seeing him have similar relationships,” Mike said. “We all have different relationships with kids, and that's where you get your rewards. It's not the winning and losing. Certainly, Jeff has picked a great place for him to be and to be able to have a lot of rewards with the relationships that you build with these kids.
“Watching Jeff and his team, realizing how much they love him and how hard they play for him has been real rewarding to me to see that happen because it's an experience that only coaches can explain.”
Jeff said that the positive influences of his high school coaches also pushed him to become a coach. Mike jokingly responded by saying that his poor experience with his coaches in high school pushed him to be a coach to do things the right way.
And while the right way to coach is undoubtedly subjective, Mike and Jeff do things in a positive way, through encouragement of their players.Nice Guys Can Finish FirstAfter graduating from North Texas State University in 1977, Mike headed to Seminole to be an assistant football coach. Needing to coach a second sport, he of course chose (boys) basketball.
“In Texas that's the way you're going to start,” Mike said. “You're going to start as a football coach and become a basketball coach. Back then it was even more so than it is now.”
It didn't take long for Mike to have success in basketball. In '79, Seminole won a state title in basketball with head coach Leland Caffey, who showed Mike a new way to coach.
“(Caffey) was probably the one that I realized it was OK to be a nice guy and coach,” Mike said. “You can do it either way. Not that it's the right way; it's just the way that I wanted to do it.”
In addition to learning under Caffey, Mike also learned from Tasker, who was a mere 30 miles away in Hobbs, N.M. — where Tasker coached for 49 years after winning the title with Lovington.
Mike, propelled by the success of the Seminole basketball team, got his first head coaching job at Lufkin Central High School as the boys basketball coach. He moved on to Canton in 1983 and then Lindale in '87. By 1990, he had moved out of coaching and into administration.
The Girl's Game However, being a non-coaching administrator didn't last long. When Lindale needed a new girls' basketball coach on short notice in 1991, Mike decided to take the job because his daughter Mandy was on the team.
Jeff all the while had begun following Mike's teams intently, more than an average fan Jeff said, before he got into coaching.
“Finally, my wife one day said, ‘Why don't you just do what you love?'” Jeff said. “So I got into coaching and teaching.
“Because (Mike) coached girls and I was close to him and saw the things that he was doing and relationships that he was building and all that stuff, when Grace had a girl's juggernaut and it was junior high first two years, I took it and loved it ever since.”
After 13 years coaching varsity, Jeff has a 232-179 record and he hopes to keep coaching there while his kids go to the school.
“I have a daughter in K-5 and my hope is that she graduates from Grace and that will make 26 years of a kid at Grace, consecutively,” Jeff said. “The school is so much more than just about athletics or basketball and it's the right fit for me.”
Coming Home Again
But while Jeff was excelling at Grace, Mike moved to Colorado, where he expected to retire. However, 12 years later Mike's kids had all moved back to Texas.
“I now have five grandchildren and so we were just missing out on being a grandparent, so we wanted to come back to the Tyler area,” Mike said. “I can't tell you enough about how I think God just provided this job for me because it's just been a true blessing to be here and be here at John Tyler with the kids that are here.
“It's just been very rewarding and I'm very thankful.”
And now that both Mike and Jeff are coaching in East Texas, Don can continue going to his son's games.
“One of the things I still treasure — whether I was playing or now as a coach — is if Dad's at the game, which he still comes to our games, is talking with him about it afterwards,” Jeff said. “Because he loves to ask questions: Why did you call this timeout or why didn't you do this? We still treasure that.”
And it's something that Mike, Jeff, Don and all the Smiths will all be able to treasure together after the game on Monday.
“(My wife is) going to be pulling for John Tyler and (Jeff's) family's going to be pulling for Grace and when it's over we're going to hug and we're going to move on,” Mike said.
But before they move on, they'll share what could be an emotional basketball game.
“It's funny, because you just never know how it's going to hit you,” Jeff said, recalling an unpredictably emotional game in Lindale soon after his brother had moved to Colorado. “So having him on the other bench, I'm sure it will be emotional for me. I just can't predict what that will bring out. But yeah, I know that will be emotional.
“I like a lot of coaches in East Texas, but I've never loved one that I've gone against.”
