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Interview with Hall of Fame Coach Brad Smith


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Great interview with a great coach. One of the very best I ever worked for. Coach Smith taught me a lesson very early in my career, one which I carried with me and have tried to pass on to many younger officials.

I was a very young Referee and we were working at Crown Point. I managed to mis-enforce the same penalty twice. CP won the game comfortably, and nobody said a thing, but something was nagging at me after the game. I went back over it in my head and realized my mistake. It just so happened we had Crown Point at Munster the very next week. When we came onto the field before the game I made a beeline for coach Smith. I admitted last week’s mistake, apologized, and told him it wouldn’t happen again. Without saying a word, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a rule book. It was folded open to the rule describing the proper enforcement for the mistake I had made the week before, and that section had been highlighted. We enjoyed a great relationship from then to this day. I learned that by stepping up and admitting a mistake, you can gain more credibility than if you hadn’t made the mistake in the first place. A valuable lesson that stood me in good stead for the rest of my career.

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On 7/13/2022 at 8:48 PM, Bobref said:

Great interview with a great coach. One of the very best I ever worked for. Coach Smith taught me a lesson very early in my career, one which I carried with me and have tried to pass on to many younger officials.

I was a very young Referee and we were working at Crown Point. I managed to mis-enforce the same penalty twice. CP won the game comfortably, and nobody said a thing, but something was nagging at me after the game. I went back over it in my head and realized my mistake. It just so happened we had Crown Point at Munster the very next week. When we came onto the field before the game I made a beeline for coach Smith. I admitted last week’s mistake, apologized, and told him it wouldn’t happen again. Without saying a word, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a rule book. It was folded open to the rule describing the proper enforcement for the mistake I had made the week before, and that section had been highlighted. We enjoyed a great relationship from then to this day. I learned that by stepping up and admitting a mistake, you can gain more credibility than if you hadn’t made the mistake in the first place. A valuable lesson that stood me in good stead for the rest of my career.

I would be willing to bet your ability to hold herself accountable and having the self awareness to know when you should played a large role in the length of your career. Congrats to Coach Smith. My mom worked with his wife way back in the day at the Porter County Government center in Valpo. My parents both spoke very highly of Brad.

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6 hours ago, Boilernation said:

I would be willing to bet your ability to hold herself accountable and having the self awareness to know when you should played a large role in the length of your career. Congrats to Coach Smith. My mom worked with his wife way back in the day at the Porter County Government center in Valpo. My parents both spoke very highly of Brad.

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