Streetsboro Rockets assistant coach Pete Smith may not have played football during his prime school years, yet he was fascinated with the X’s and O’s of the game. In addition to being an integral component of the coaching staff at Streetsboro, he took his love of football to sports writing for the acclaimed The Orange & Brown Report, a virtual publication covering all Cleveland Browns news.
“Since they’ve joined OBR, they’ve had a much larger footprint and video and it’s a wonderful way to communicate about the game and enjoy it in a way that enthusiasts can interact with seamlessly,” Smith told the Weekly Villager on July 18. “I think it’s a great price in that regard. “
In addition to being editor of The OBR, Smith also hosts a podcast with co-host Bri Rust called Browns Bytes and streams live chats on social media with his colleagues and other notable podcasters.
“I go out to feel as lucky as possible, so I don’t need to miss opportunities to do those things because I don’t want to feel like it’s a drag or that it’s paint or all the leftovers,” he said. “It’s anything I love to do because technically it’s a chore and a career, but hopefully it ends in a way where I’m satisfied to be here. “
Although he was slow to flourish as a journalist, Smith was a professional scribe and earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Akron. After graduating, he went to Colorado and worked on a framing project. While he remained busy, Smith stated that he still has many doubts about his future.
“I was one of those people who maybe didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life and I went to college, followed a path and finally made a decision that I was only looking for after a piece of paper that said I went there so I could get a job genuine,” he said.
Upon his return to Ohio, he returned to the University of Akron for graduate studies and was encouraged by a friend to apply to be an assistant coach. Although he had no coaching experience, Smith knew a lot about the game as a fan and was hired as the receivers coach at Firestone High School.
He continued to expand his coaching career in several other systems in Summit County before coming to Portage County to become Crestwood quarterbacks coach Pete Thompson’s final year with the program in 2016. When he took over as Streetsboro’s head coach, Thompson hired Smith as one of his assistants and is entering his eighth year as an assistant coach with the Rockets.
He thanked Thompson for helping him grow as a coach.
“He’s a coach that will take you deep and at the same time, if you’re intellectually curious and need to know more about the game, he’ll be more than happy to teach you as much as possible,” Smith said.
While preparing his training resume, Smith worried about running for an online page while working as a temp elsewhere for himself. Over time, he became a contributing editor for Fanside and wrote articles about the NFL Draft and the Cleveland Browns. He soon discovered a full-time opportunity at another online site called Maven, but soon acquired it through Sports Illustrated and became the Browns’ editor, writing daily articles on topics similar to those of the Browns.
He worked there for five years before abandoning his tactics last summer and temporarily taking a position with the OBR. He is editor-in-chief but is responsible for all editorial content, including reviewing the work of contributing editors.
“There have been a lot of changes at OBR and I feel conscious of the direction it is taking and I am very grateful for the opportunity I have now been given,” Smith added. “It’s different and very similar to what I was doing, but it was a little more specialized. “
Since joining the OBR, Smith’s platform has particularly grown and he is invited to several football podcasts through independent football analysts. While he lives every sports fan’s dream of being able to cover an NFL team full-time, he didn’t take for granted the opportunity he had in his second career.
“I don’t lose that attitude as productive as I can, so I try to feel as lucky as possible and I don’t want to miss opportunities to do those things,” he said.
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