National Football League

Loudest of Redskins: Special teams coach Smith

Published Aug. 31, 2011 6:34 a.m. ET

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Danny Smith is the loudest member of the Washington Redskins. Wins the title hands down.

''Geronimo!'' comes the yell that can be heard across the practice field and deep into the swampy woods next to Redskins Park, signaling the start of a particular drill. ''Geronimo!''

With all the energy of a little kid, with all the authority and saltiness of a drill sergeant, the 58-year-old special teams coach commands the turf for the precious 37 minutes or so he gets during a typical two-hour practice.

He's got a lot to teach over the course of a preseason, from standard techniques on how to block during punt returns to the bizarre-looking onside punt that maybe - just maybe - might be needed one day following a safety.

He is a man who operates only in high gear. No one can even imagine him trying to relax.

''It's fast and faster,'' Smith said. ''I'm relaxed when I'm on the field, to be honest with you. Because I enjoy what I do. I don't have a lot of hobbies and things like that. I'm not a golfer. I love the beach when I can get away and those kind of things, but I'm not a movie guy. I just love football and I love being around these players.

''The lockout killed me from a personal standpoint because what the (heck) kind of coach is it that don't have no players? And I miss the players, and they think that's a little bit corny and those kinds of things, but when the players weren't in this building, I really missed `em.''

Smith has been with the Redskins since 2004, and this is his hardest week of the year.

The team by Saturday evening must cut its roster to 53, and he'll be in the meetings fighting for returners, cover guys, gunners and jammers - players that may or may not fit into the plans for the offense or defense. When he loses his case, it's tough to break the news.

''It is hard because I do take it personally,'' he said. ''The guy's out there that I respect, that busts his butt for me, that does what I ask him to do, I hate to see them go. And I do cry. I really cry. That's just the nature of the beast, and I don't like that part of it.''

Smith is almost nerdy about his job. He combs the rule book looking for oddities - and there are many when it comes to special teams. He keeps meticulous notes. It's almost as if his job were a five-star Sudoku that he has to solve.

''Relax? Not in here,'' said linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, one of the Redskins' top special teams players. ''I'm never seen him relaxed. He's always either in there watching film, walking around popping some gum, trying to figure out something, scheming. He's got all those notebooks in there. I mean, he's a workaholic.''

Of course, most NFL coaches are workaholics, but special teams assistants are often a breed apart.

''They're usually high energy,'' coach Mike Shanahan said. ''Everybody that comes into the NFL, they're not coming in to play special teams. Everybody wants to be a starter, offensively, defensively. Usually when they came out from the collegiate level, they never thought about playing special teams and they didn't play special teams because they were usually a superstar. So for them to get into it, you've got to have a guy that motivates people.''

It remains an underappreciated part of the game. A punt? For many, that's a good chance to run to the kitchen and get a head start on the upcoming commercial break.

But football is all about field position, and that comes from special teams. If a 10-yard block-in-the-back penalty negates a 13-yard return, that's 23 yards lost - or ''two first downs that an offense is fighting their butt off to get,'' Smith noted.

Smith enjoys the special teams experience because it's high-risk and high-reward - when compared to offense and defense.

''I like the idea of having one shot - we don't get a second down, a third down,'' he said. ''On offense you could get sacked on the first play and be second-and-30, but you could still get a first down. We don't have that luxury, and I like that. I feel like I'm best, and it's my job to make my players best, when our backs are against the wall in critical situations. It just evolved in my nature, the intensity of it.''

Smith points out that he is one of only three coaches that works with essentially the entire roster.

The others are Shanahan and the strength and conditioning coach. Smith would like to be a head coach, but it would have to be under the right circumstances.

''I don't need to do it for my ego so they can call me `head coach,''' he said. ''And the good jobs don't open. The bad jobs are the ones that open. I want a good job.''

Smith is well-respected throughout the league, but the Redskins special teams statistics are a mixed bag - largely because the team can't seem to keep a punter or a kicker.

Washington, the worst punting team in the NFL since 2000, went through three punters last season, and its field goal percentage was worst among the 32 teams.

Those two higher-profile positions tend to obscure the hard work done by the rest of the special teams players, but they're also the hardest to coach.

''I break it down this way,'' Smith said. ''There are specialists, and there are special teams. And the specialists are the long snapper, the punter and kicker. ... I don't have a problem with young guys. I don't have a problem with old guys. I just want it consistent, and we haven't been about to do that.''

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Joseph White can be reached at http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

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