Panthers request to interview Dolphins OC Frank Smith for head coach opening

The Carolina Panthers on Monday announced they requested to interview Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith for their head coach vacancy.

Smith, who is in his second season as Miami’s offensive coordinator, is one of nine candidates who have been requested for interviews. Carolina fired Frank Reich in November, just 11 games into his first season after a 1-10 start.

The 42-year-old Smith does not call plays for a Dolphins’ offense that finished the regular season as second-highest scoring unit in the NFL; head coach Mike McDaniel calls plays for Miami. But Smith has taken on a big role in game-planning and creating an offensive identity alongside McDaniel.

“We just have such a natural alignment on the way we see so many things,” Smith said last week. “That’s why our communication is so easy and it’s been awesome. To be able to implement it on a grandiose scale within the program, I couldn’t ask for anything better. So the basis of our program is adversity is an opportunity. And this is an unbelievable opportunity. I couldn’t thank Mike every day for allowing me to be a part of it.”

In his first season as offensive coordinator, Smith took on more of a role coaching the team’s offensive line. But McDaniel wanted Smith to handle more coordinator duties and hired Butch Barry as offensive line coach to replace Matt Applebaum, facilitating Smith to make that move. This season, he spends game days in the coaches’ booth after working on the sideline in 2022.

“I think on game day, the coaches all do an outstanding job,” McDaniel said in December, “but namely Frank does an outstanding job of kind of adapting to the communication timing and being able to know the things to say and the timing to say them, and kind of keep me from deviating from a certain course or get me on to the right track. It’s collaborative in that we all are just trying to have the best play called that we have available to us. So however we get there, that communication starts with Frank, but goes to every position coach and assistant.”

Smith was voted the top offensive coordinator this season in a survey conducted by the NFL Players Association that asked players to rate their coordinators.

Back in November, he got emotional when asked what it meant for his name to be floated as a possible head coaching candidate. He recalled his start in college football was as a non-scholarship player at Miami of Ohio.

“It’s not flattering. It’s more humbling,” he said. “I remember why I got into coaching. So when all this stuff comes up, it’s pretty cool. But the minute you worry about your goals and where you want to go, you forget, like for me, how lucky I am to be here today. So all that stuff’s cool, but I truly enjoy every day here and that’s the cool part. And it’s one of those where I’m a walk-on from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Every day of my life, I remember it. So those things pretty cool, but it’s not going to affect today.”

Smith has 20 years of coaching experience on the NFL and college level. The Dolphins hired him to join McDaniel’s inaugural staff after one season as the Los Angeles Chargers’ run game coordinator and offensive line coach. Smith has also coached tight ends with the Raiders and Chicago Bears, and he spent time as assistant line coach for the New Orleans Saints, as well as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for Butler.

Smith was Ben Roethlisberger’s center in college and got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant with his alma mater.

NFL rules prohibit teams with head-coaching vacancies to conduct in-person interviews until Jan. 22, the day after the divisional round of the playoffs. For coaches who are with a team playing in the wild-card round, virtual interviews can be conducted three days after the first-round game has been played. So, Smith will be able to virtually interview for the Panthers’ opening beginning Jan. 16.

The Dolphins face the Chiefs in Kansas City in the wild-card round on Saturday night.

This story may be updated.