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Te XAN S
Richard Smith
Defensive Coordinator
21st NFL Season • 3rd with Texans
coaches
Richard Smith enters his third season as the
defensive coordinator of the Texans. He was
hired on February 2, 2006 after spending the
2005 season as the defensive coordinator of the
Miami Dolphins.
Houston’s defense finished 24th in the league for
the second consecutive season in 2007, allowing
an average of 344.2 yards per game. The Texans
gave up just 114.1 rushing yards per game in 2007
to rank 19th in the league in that category. The
defense put more pressure on opposing quarterbacks
in 2007, improving its sack total from 28 in
2006 to 31.
Smith’s defense in year two was led by a pair of
All-Pros in MLB DeMeco Ryans and DE Mario
Williams. Both second-year stars earned spots
on the Associated Press All-Pro second team.
Ryans led the team in tackles for the second
straight year and was voted to start at MLB for
the AFC squad in the 2008 Pro Bowl. Williams
dominated over the second half of the season
and finished the year with a franchise-record 14
sacks, which was good for third in the NFL. The
top overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft has already
set the franchise career sack record with 18.5,
and he was the only player in the NFL in 2007 to
notch a sack in six consecutive games.
In his first year in Houston, Smith presided over
a defense that finished the season ranked 24th
in the NFL in total defense, giving up 337.5 yards
per game, and tied for 25th in scoring defense,
allowing 22.9 points per game. However, over
the last three months of the season, Smith’s
defense performed like one of the top-10 units in
the league.
No defense improved as much as Smith’s from
the beginning of the 2006 season to the end.
Houston shaved 179.9 yards and 12.1 points off
of its average per game from October 1 through
the end of the season. After struggling early on,
Houston’s defense began to hit its stride in a
Week 4 win over Miami, holding the Dolphins to
289 yards and 15 points. From that point on, the
Texans allowed an average of 303.8 yards per
game, ranking 10th in the league over that time
span. The Texans gave up an average 20.6 points
per game in that span as well, which ranked 13th
in the league.
In his year with the Dolphins, Smith’s defense
ranked 18th in the NFL in total defense and finished
the season with 49 sacks, second-most in
the league.
Before joining Miami, Smith served as the assistant
head coach/linebackers for the Detroit
Lions during the 2003 and 2004 seasons and as
the linebackers coach for the San Francisco
49ers from 1997-02.
During his time in San Francisco, Smith helped
four of his linebackers reach the Pro Bowl,
including Julian Peterson in 2002, Winfred Tubbs
in 1998, and both Ken Norton Jr. and Lee Woodall
in 1997.
During Smith’s tenure with the Denver Broncos
that began in 1993, Smith worked with Texans
head coach Gary Kubiak in 1995 and 1996. He
served as the Broncos’ special teams coach and
also assisted with the linebackers. From 1988-92,
Smith coached tight ends, specials teams,
linebackers, and offensive line with the Houston
Oilers. He coached on the collegiate level before
that, tutoring the linebackers and special teams
for the University of Arizona in 1987, and the outside
linebackers and special teams at California
from 1984-86. Smith broke into coaching in 1979,
when he was the offensive line coach at Rio
Hondo (Calif.) Junior College for two seasons
before coaching the defensive line at Cal State-
Fullerton from 1981-83.
Smith played on the offensive line at Rio Hondo
for two years (1975-76) before transferring to
Fresno State, where he competed in football for
two years and graduated in 1979 with a degree in
physical education.
Smith has four children: daughters Morgan,
Aimee, and Whitney, and a son, Travis.
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