Brian Smith Selected as New Offensive Line Coach at PSU

Salem-News.com SPORTS

PORTLAND - Brian Smith is the latest assistant football coach to be hired at Portland State University.

Head Coach Jerry Glanville announced Smith as his new offensive line coach as he rounds out his staff prior to the start of spring football.

“The strength of our coaching interviews was the quality of offensive line coaches that we talked to,” said Glanville. “But there are only three line coaches in the country that have the knowledge of our pass protection and blocking schemes that we use in the running game. Brian’s past history with the Run-and-Shoot puts us two years ahead of anyone else we could have hired.

“Brian not only played in the system at Hawaii, but was recommended by the two best quarterback coaches in the United States: Mouse Davis and June Jones.”

“He’s familiar as both a player and a coach with what we do on the offensive line,” said Davis, the Vikings’ new offensive coordinator, who worked previously at Hawai’i and is the creator of the modern Run-and-Shoot offense. “Brian’s had an excellent opportunity to learn now as a coach and combines that with being an excellent technician of the position and having overall knowledge of the game.”

Smith looks forward to getting started at Portland State: “This is a great opportunity for me to work for two coaches that are as experienced as Coach Glanville and Mouse. I am looking forward to working for Mouse again and continuing my development as a coach in the Run- and-Shoot offense.”

Smith comes to Portland State after working as a graduate assistant at Oregon State in 2006. The year prior he was an assistant coach at California Lutheran.

A four-year letterman (1998-2001) as a center at the University of Hawaii, Smith helped the Warriors capture a share of the Western Athletic Conference title and the Oahu Bowl in 1999.

Smith graduated from Hawaii with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies.

Smith was in the summer training camps of the Baltimore Ravens in 2002 and the Green Bay Packers in 2003 as a player.

He began his coaching career during the 2003-04 school year as an assistant football coach at Royal High School in Simi Valley, Calif., and as an assistant wrestling coach at Agoura High School in Agoura Hills, Calif.

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