Changing with the changing times
Q&A WITH TROY SMITH
Troy Smith is coming home.
For the first time since he stepped behind an OHL bench more than a decade ago, the Hamilton native will coach against his hometown (and former) team when the Saginaw Spirit visit the Bulldogs for a 4 p.m. contest Saturday.
The Spectator caught up with the 39-year-old beforehand to talk about change, what it’s like to be a head coach and kids these days. Here’s an excerpt of the interview, edited for length and clarity:
Teri Pecoskie: You were only 27 when you took you took a job as an assistant with the Rangers, which is pretty young. How do you think you’ve changed as a coach?
Troy Smith: It’s really young, but I think you mature and little things don’t bother you as much. You understand that some things can’t be switched in the moment and they take time and patience and I think with experience I’ve learned to be more patient.
TP: How is that reflected in the way you interact with your players?
TS: My mood swings are definitely less intense. I can say in all honesty that in a situation where I’ve gotten really mad with my team and the players, it’s only happened once this year and it was in a game we were actually winning. Whereas in the past I think I confused effort and execution. Now I understand that if they’re putting in the effort the execution may not always be there even though they’re trying. TP: Were you a yeller? TS: I yelled more than I needed to. I think sometimes what you say and how you say it are two in the same. The delivery of your message is so important, especially with kids nowadays.
They’ve changed a lot, even in my short 11 years of coaching — kids are different. They want to know a lot more information. They won’t just take your word and run with it. They want to know why they’re doing it and how it’s going to help the team and how it’s going to help them individually.
TP: That’s interesting. Why do you think they’ve changed so quickly?
TS: With the internet and cellphones and everything else, information is right at their fingertips — if they don’t know the answer to something, they Google it. I think they’re a lot more inquisitive, I think you see it off the ice with their training and their eating habits and things like that. They’re just far more educated than they were when I played in the OHL and I don’t think it’s a bad thing.
TP: The fact that you’ve evolved as a coach — is it a product of time or is there more to it?
TS: I don’t know if it’s me being older or me having more experience now and learning from my experience. I think going through being let go in Kitchener (the Rangers fired Smith in 2015) and not getting the job in Hamilton (he was an associate coach for the Bulldogs when he applied for the head coaching gig that ultimately went to John Gruden at the start of last season) forced me to have some honest conversations with myself, which for anybody is the hardest thing to do.
TP: You took a break from coaching for a little while (Smith, who is in his first year as Spirit head coach, resigned from his job with the Bulldogs a little over a year ago to pursue an opportunity outside of hockey). How did that affect you?
TS: I think stepping away was actually great for me because I was able to take the emotion out of all of it and not think about the intensity of the game or trying to make playoffs or trying to win the next game. I just was able to sit back and really reflect on the things I needed to do to change as a coach.
TP: How do you feel about coaching against your hometown team?
TS: I love the City of Hamilton. I’m very proud to be from there and it’s going to be a unique experience. I’ve already experienced it being the home team, but I think being the visiting team in a rink that I’ve got so many great memories of, from the Canada Cup to the Memorial Cup, it’s going to be exciting.