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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

1 in 8700: Dennis Smith

Coming off a huge state championship victory, Middlebury Union High School football coach Dennis Smith is grateful for many things. Every year, Smith and his players set the goal of being crowned state champions. In Vermont’s Division I, it is a difficult goal, but not out of reach.

Smith believes in the value of hard work and drills his players in fundamentals every single practice. “Winning is not fun, winning is work, but winning a state championship is fun,” Smith said.

From tackling technique to footwork, Smith makes sure his players are experts in the basics. Although Smith sets out to win the State Championship every year, he doesn’t place all emphasis on that title, which is perhaps one of the reasons he is so successful as a coach.

Smith knew that he had a special group of kids this year from the beginning of the season. From merely an athletic standpoint, Smith has never had a team that had so many players able to play both offense and defense.

“We were the smallest team on the field every week, but we had the speed and quickness,” Smith said.

On top of the team’s work ethic and athletic ability, the team had strong leadership from not only the seniors, but also the underclassmen. After analyzing a team’s strengths, it is common to also assess their weaknesses. However, when Smith is asked about his team’s weaknesses, he takes a different approach.

“ I really look at myself when I see a weakness in our team,” Smith said. “If a kid is struggling mentally or physically, I ask myself what am I as a coach doing wrong.

I ask myself how can I differ my approach so that the kid will understand easier.”  When Smith sees his team struggling, he looks at it as a coaching challenge rather than a weakness.

Smith’s interest in coaching as a career began during his time at Norwich University, where he majored in physical education. As a freshman, he played both football and baseball. He then decided not to continue football after his freshman year, but continued to play baseball throughout college.

After college, Smith eagerly accepted a job at Middlebury Union High School, his alma matter, as a substitute teacher as well as a student coach.

“I caught the coaching bug during my first coaching job and have had it ever since,” Smith said.

Smith is not the only Middlebury Union graduate that caught “the coaching bug.” All nine coaches in the Middlebury Union High School program, which includes a freshmen, Junior Varsity and Varsity team, were graduates of the high school.

Although the coaches are divided into three at each level, they have all their meetings together in Smith’s office. The coaching group is very close. In fact, according to Smith, his office resembles more of a “hangout spot” than an office. Smith has a unique chair for each member of the coaching staff in his office and he even keeps a fully stocked fridge behind his desk. While the coaches did not all graduate the same year, they still share the bond of being Middlebury Union alumni.

Another important Middlebury Union graduate in Smith’s life is his wife. Smith and his wife attended the high school at the same time, but did not know each other. They attended different colleges; Smith graduated from Norwich and his wife graduated from the University of Vermont.

They couple met after college when they both returned to their high school as substitute teachers. Smith and his wife now have three children, two of whom attended Middlebury Union High School.

Smith attributes his success in his coaching career to “good kids, good community, good assistant coaches and a great wife.”

Interestingly enough, all of Smith’s keys to success have originated in Middlebury, Vt. The town has given Smith many great opportunities, and Smith has given back tremendously, both on the field as an excellent coach and as a strong role model off the field. Middlebury Union High School is lucky to have Coach Smith at the helm.


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