DeAndre Smith - Football Coach - Texas Tech Red Raiders

DeAndre Smith

Title:
Running Backs Coach

DeAndre Smith, a veteran running backs coach with 22 years of experience at the college level, enters his third season on the Texas Tech staff as the Red Raiders’ running backs coach.

This is Smith's third stint working alongside head coach Matt Wells as he served as Utah State's running backs coach in 2018 prior to his arrival in Lubbock. The two were also assistant coaches together at New Mexico in 2008.

Over his two seasons, Smith has mentored SaRodorick Thompson into one of the top running backs in the Big 12 as the junior has totaled 1,375 yards and 20 touchdowns on the ground during that span. Thompson, a two-time All-Big 12 honorable mention selection, has led Texas Tech in rushing each of his two seasons under Smith, becoming the first Red Raider to do so as an underclassman since Taurean Henderson during the 2002-03 campaigns.

Thompson rushed for 765 yards and 12 touchdowns during Smith’s first season in 2019, becoming only the eighth Red Raider all-time to lead the team in rushing as only a freshman. He joined a prestigious group of former running backs to do so such as Doak Walker Award winners Byron “Bam” Morris and Byron Hanspard.

Thompson received the bulk of his carries during Big 12 play in 2019 as he closed the year ranked third in the league and 27th in the FBS for rushing touchdowns. He averaged 74.6 rushing yards per game against conference foes, which ranked sixth in the league at the end of the year. He later ranked 41st nationally in rushing touchdowns and second in the Big 12 for rushing yards per carry as a sophomore in 2020.

In his lone season at Utah State, Smith mentored Darwin Thompson to All-Mountain West second-team honors as the junior rushed for 1,044 yards and 14 touchdowns en route to helping the Aggies match the school single-season record with 11 wins. Thompson, who has also caught 22 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns, averaged 6.8 yards per carry this season, which led all Mountain West rushers and ranked 14th nationally. He also ranked among the top 20 rushers nationally in both total touchdowns (16) and rushing touchdowns.

Thompson declared for the 2019 NFL Draft following his junior season where he was selected in the sixth round by the Kansas City Chiefs. The former junior-college product appeared in 12 regular-season games as a rookie in 2019 and then all three games in the playoffs as the Chiefs won their first Super Bowl title since 1970.

Prior to his arrival at Utah State, Smith spent the previous five seasons at a power-five conference school with stints at Syracuse (2013-15), Purdue (2016) and North Carolina (2017). He was also an assistant at Illinois from 2010-11 before returning to New Mexico for his second stint with the Lobos in 2013.

Smith began his collegiate coaching career as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Indiana State from 1999-00. He moved from there to Northern Illinois where he was the running backs coach and special teams assistant from 2001-04. He was part of the Miami (Ohio) staff as assistant head coach and running backs coach from 2005-07.

Over his two decades of coaching, Smith has mentored four All-Americans and has had 10 running backs rush for at least 1,000 yards, namely Mikel LeShoure at Illinois and Michael Turner and Garrett Wolfe at Northern Illinois. LeShoure was a standout for the Fighting Illini in 2010 as he set school records for rushing yards (1,697), scoring (122 points) and rushing touchdowns (17) en route to earning All-Big Ten first team honors as well as second team All-America accolades. He was later selected by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft.

Turner and Wolfe, meanwhile, both earned All-America honors with the Huskies after ranking among the top rushers in the country. Turner was named a second-team All-American twice in his career (2002-03) after leading the Mid-American Conference in rushing, while Wolfe earned honorable mention accolades in 2004 after ranking fifth nationally in rushing yards (1,656). Both became NFL Draft selections as Turner was picked in the fifth round by the San Diego Chargers in 2004, while Wolfe was a third-round pick by the Chicago Bears in 2007.

Smith, a native of St. Louis, was a four-year letterwinner at quarterback for Southwest Missouri State where he was the 1990 Division I-AA Offensive Player of the Year as well as an All-American. He was named the Gateway Conference Player of the Decade from 1985 to 1995.

Smith, who earned his bachelor’s degree in organizational communication from Southwest Missouri State in 2002, played professionally for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League in 1992 and then in France in 1993.

Smith and his wife, Lori, have two sons, Ryan and Donovan, and a daughter, Ashley. Ryan played wide receiver at Duke from 2013-16, while Donovan is a redshirt freshman quarterback currently for the Red Raiders.

DEANDRE SMITH COACHING EXPERIENCE
2019-Present: Texas Tech Assistant Coach (Running Backs)
2018: Utah State Assistant Coach (Running Backs)
2017: North Carolina Assistant Coach (Running Backs)
2016: Purdue Assistant Coach (Running Backs)
2013-15: Syracuse Assistant Coach (Running Backs)
2012: New Mexico Assistant Coach (Running Backs)
2010-11: Illinois Assistant Coach (Running Backs)
2009: UNLV Assistant Coach (Running Backs)
2008: New Mexico Assistant Coach (Running Backs)
2005-07: Miami (Ohio) Assistant Head Coach (Running Backs)
2001-04: Northern Illinois Assistant Coach (Running Backs/Special Teams Asst.)
1999-00: Indiana State Offensive Coordinator (Quarterbacks)