Champions Dinner 2022
Mike Smith Speaks for the Boys & Girls Club Champions Dinner
The Greeneville Sun
Nineteen-year veteran National Football League coach, Mike Smith spoke Thursday night at the Eastview Parks and Recreation Center for the Boys & Girls Club of Greeneville & Greene County’s Champions Dinner.
The Champions Dinner is one of the central fundraisers the Boys & Girl’s Club hosts. Local Greene county residents filled one-half of the gymnasium to listen to Smith speak and to help raise funds for the club. The event provided a dinner sponsored by Greeneville Federal Bank. The speaker was sponsored by Forward Air.
Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Scott Bullington said called Smith “a great role model for not only today’s youth, but adults, too.”Smith coached in the National Football League from 1999 to 2018. He was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 2008 to 2014. Raised in Daytona Beach, Florida, Smith eventually played collegiate football at East Tennessee State University. When Smith took over as head coach for the Falcons in 2008, it was his first opportunity as head coach after multiple assistant coaching positions at the collegiate and professional levels.
Smith owns a home in East Tennessee and spoke about his connection to the area.
“I enjoy spending time here,” Smith said. “It’s dear to my heart.”
Smith began his speech noting that though he is viewed initially just as an NFL head coach, he is more importantly a teacher. He continued, “You are all teachers.”
Smith spoke about the value of teaching and the commonality of being on a team whether as a family, professional or spiritual unit.
“We are all in teams,” Smith said.
Later, he added on to that idea by stating everyone is a coach.
“Everybody is a coach of a team. It’s all about teams and teamwork,” Smith said. “We all coach somebody.”
Smith brought up how he was involved in the Boys & Girls Club when he was growing up in Daytona Beach. He noted how, when he was involved as a youth member of the organization, the club originally was only for boys. Smith gave praise to the coaches and mentors he had during the years he was growing up in Florida.
“I would not have been an NFL coach without those people who cared,” Smith said.
Smith talked about the importance of caring, consistency and communication as a leader.
“If you are not consistent, you lose the trust of a team,” Smith said.
He cautioned against becoming satisfied with success.
“When you are successful,” Smith said, “There’s a disease called complacency.”
He explained to the audience that complacency is the reason he got fired from the Falcons in 2014.
Smith also spoke about the importance of communication but noted the struggles of face-to-face communication due to the modern age and its heavy screen-time.
“We’ve got to be able to communicate and collaborate,” Smith said. “The best communication is to sit and look at you in the eye and talk.”
Finally, Smith brought up how important commitment and humility is to an organization, family, relationship or team. He said that the best leaders are the ones who serve their team before they serve themselves.
"Commitment is greater than anyone in the organization,” Smith said. “You’ve got to lose your ego to be a successful leader.”
After Smith spoke, he opened up the floor to an auction to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club. Smith offered the winner of the auction two seats on his fishing boat.
Smith said he will coordinate the fishing trip, which will include all supplies and even a meal, to fit in accordance with the winner of the auction. The trip will take place on the South Holston or the Watuga River. He said he has done the trip in the past after an auction with the Boys & Girls Club in Elizabethton. Smith said he looks forward to the trip that will help to support the club.
After the auction, Bullington thanked Smith for speaking and applauded the once NFL coach’s efforts and time that he has spent in the Greene County community.
The event is a fundraiser for the organization that serves many children annually throughout Greeneville & Greene County with a variety of after-school, summer and youth sports programs. This year’s event is title sponsored by Forward Air. The event will start with a reception at 6:00 pm sponsored by First Horizon Bank Foundation, the Greeneville Light & Power System, Marsh Propane and Merkel Bros Construction to meet Admiral Schofield, Dinner sponsored by Greeneville Federal Bank and Ballad Health/Greeneville Community Hospital will start at 6:30 pm. The Event Program is sponsored by Dr. Daniel Lewis with the evening’s program to follow with Admiral Schofield as the special guest sponsored by C&C Millwright. This year’s event is co-chaired by Satish Hira and Laura White.
The Champions Dinner is known for its dynamic speakers which have included, past speakers such as Pat Summitt, Phil Fulmer, Ray Mears, Johnny Majors, Tee Martin, Dale Ellis, Rick Barnes, Josh Dobbs, Grant Williams and Dale Murphy. “This year promises to be no different, with Admiral Schofield,” stated Scott Bullington, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club. “Admiral embodies everything that is right with professional athletes today and he is very accomplished in community service in addition to his feats of the basketball court” Bullington added.
Schofield came to Tennessee from Zion, Illinois in 2015 and played for Rick Barnes on some of the best teams that have played in Knoxville. After his first two years at Tennessee, Schofield exploded his junior season, leading the Vols to an SEC Regular Season Championship. Schofield was named Second-team All-SEC for his outstanding play. Schofield led the Vols in rebounding and averaged 13.9 ppg as the Vols made the NCAA March Madness Round of the 32 before being upset by Loyola Chicago.
During his senior year, Schofield was the leader for the Tennessee Volunteers basketball teams that accomplished a school-record-tying 31 wins and a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2018-19. The Vols also authored a program-record 19-game win streak, logged three wins over top-five opponents and spent a month ranked atop both major Top 25 polls. Schofield scored 30 points against previously top ranked Gonzaga for the Vols in a big early season win. Tennessee spent the entire 2018-19 season ranked in the top 10 and earned a year-end ranking of No. 5 in the coaches’ poll. That team set single-season school records for assists and blocks and was the first UT team to score more than 3,000 points. Over his last two seasons at Tennessee, Schofield was a leading force behind Tennessee’s 57-15 won loss record. The Vols completed that season riding a school-record streak of 35 straight appearances in the AP Top 25. Schofield’s play on the court earned him All-SEC honors his senior year and put him in position to play for the Washington Wizards of the NBA.
As a rookie in the NBA with the Wizards, Schofield averaged 5.1 ppg and 3.8 rpg. He was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Nov. 19, 2020 before being the first pick in the G League Draft by the Greensboro Swarm on Jan. 11, 2021. Schofield appeared in 14 games for the Swarm, averaging 10.1 ppg and 5.8 rpg. Schofield is currently working towards opportunities for the upcoming NBA season.
For tickets or more information on the Boys & Girls Club event contact Scott Bullington or Jessica Poore at 423-787-9322, email Bullington at gbgc@comcast.net or stop by the Boys & Girls Club at 740 West Church Street next to the Greene County Health Department.
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