Former Chiefs linebackers coach MIke Smith leaves Packers position

When the Kansas City Chiefs decided to make the ultimate defensive switch after the 2018 season and fire Bob Sutton, they lost several assistant coaches with him. One of those departures was outside linebackers coach Mike Smith, who left to take the same post with the Green Bay Packers.

After a few seasons in Wisconsin, Smith has decided to leave for “other opportunities“. Packers writer Rob Demovsky reported the news on Friday as the Packers face further coaching changes in the 2022 offseason.

Smith had spent the previous three seasons with the Chiefs, working as an assistant defensive line coach before being promoted to take over a position working with outside linebackers under Sutton. He earned rave reviews for his work with Dee Ford in what became an incredible breakout year in 2018.

Former Chiefs assistant coach Mike Smith has left his post with the Packers.

The Chiefs’ shift to a new defensive philosophy under Steve Spagnuolo made everyone expendable on the defensive side that year and the Chiefs soon hired Matt House away from the University of Kentucky to coach their linebackers under Spags. Interestingly enough, House just left this offseason, too, to take over defensive coordinator duties for the LSU Tigers under new head coach Brian Kelly.

Another intriguing note is that Smith was a defensive assistant at Texas Tech before joining the Chiefs, meaning he was defending Patrick Mahomes in practice before the Chiefs made the decision to eventually draft him.

After coaching outside linebackers for three NFL teams—including a one-year stint with the New York Jets in 2012—and further time in college, it will be interesting to see where Smith ends up next and whether he finds a way to expand his coaching resume.