As the Panthers had internal promotions, moving Kyle Derickson to the offensive coordinator role, there was one question within the program. 

Who would fill Derickson’s old role as the wide receiver coach? 

One Eastern alum knew who the best person would be to fill in the open spot. 

“Instantly, the first person I thought of was coach [Tino] Smith [II],” wide receiver Justin Thomas said.  

Smith, a Carmel, Indiana, native, started his football journey in middle school after realizing basketball wasn’t the sport for him. 

His family gave him advice early on, saying football was his way, which helped make the decision to keep Smith’s full focus on football easier. 

Smith played college football at Savannah State University as a quarterback for the Tigers.  

Savannah State was the first school that contacted Smith, and he wanted to remain loyal to the program. Another reason Smith chose to play for the Tigers was the location of Savannah, Georgia. 

“I always wanted to be down in the South,” Smith said. “It sounded good, so I went and played there for my whole career.”   

After finishing his collegiate football career, Smith moved to Albion, Michigan, to become the wide receivers coach for the Albion Britons for five years. 

While working with the Britons, Smith coached notable Eastern wide receiver Justin Thomas during his first four years of the program. 

“[Justin Thomas] had a wonderful career at Albion,” Smith said. “He kind of reached his potential there.” 

During his four years working with Smith, Thomas caught 162 passes for 2,602 yards and 42 touchdowns. Thomas was also named a D3football.com All-American Fourth-Team player after his 2021 season.   

Thomas said Smith is a role model to him, on and off the field. Because both Thomas and Smith were new to the college, they spent a lot of time together. 

After the 2022-2023 season, Smith worked at Michigan State University as a graduate assistant coach for the Spartans for one year. 

When the wide receivers’ job at Eastern opened, Thomas was not slow to put in a word to Wilkerson about his former coach. 

“I don’t think there’s anybody better for the job,” Thomas said. “I don’t think there’s a better wide receiver coach in the country at any level of football. I walked into coach Wilk’s office, and I told him [Smith] is the guy to hire. He was the right man for the job. Eastern Illinois got a huge steal on him.” 

Smith said after Thomas’ success with the Panthers and the addition of the then vacant coaching job, Thomas immediately called to tell him about the job opening within the program. 

“Once [the wide receiver job] opened up, he told me, ‘Hey coach, the receiver job is open at Eastern Illinois,’ and he made the connection with coach Wilkerson and coach Derickson, and that’s how the process started,” Smith said. 

Smith packed his bags and moved to Charleston in January 2024 to start his new path with the Panthers. 

“I wasn’t necessarily looking at the city,” Smith said. “I was more looking for the opportunity and the culture. I believe in coach Wilkerson and what he’s doing here. Plus, once JT [Justin Thomas] gave me confirmation this place was cool. I trust him. That’s my guy.” 

When Smith adjusted to Charleston and Eastern’s program, he said he immediately started scheduling appointments with all the wide receivers to get to know them as players and people on and off the field.  

 “When it comes to my coaching, before I teach them how to get in and out of a break, before I teach them how to influence a defensive back, I need to know who they are as an individual first,” Smith said. “Who they are as a person, what’s their focus, what they like to do on and off the field; I need to be in the know. I believe if I don’t have a true relationship with them, I won’t be able to get the most out of them.”   

Some of the wide receivers said they liked how persistent and eager Smith was to get to know them not only as players but people.  

“He brought us in one on one just to understand us and to see what type of group we have,” senior wide receiver Jamal Jeffers said. “He understood a lot of this stuff is bigger than football. You got to understand who someone is off the field and what they do on a daily basis to really understand how to coach them.”  

Redshirt freshman Quenton Rogers said after his first interaction with Smith, he knew his new coach was all business and knew he would help everyone reach their highest potential.  

“He watched all of our film, each and every single guy and was making notes on what we needed to improve on, and he’d let us know what we needed to improve on,” Rogers said.  

Senior wide receiver DeAirious Smith says Tino Smith was straightforward with how the players performed in their film when he talked with the players when he first got to Eastern.  

“He really gets to know his players,” DeAirious Smith said. “He was being straight up, saying from the jump that it’s a work mentality. Nobody’s spot was a guarantee. He always said it’s a production-based business.”  

Three weeks in, Tino Smith started talking football with the receivers, and almost instantly, the players started to connect with Smith’s coaching style.  

“The game of football has changed,” Jeffers said. “The old school way of things is getting ruled out, and he just comes in with this new and fresh view. He brings the swag to the game, and as a wide receiver, you got to have a sense of swag. It’s more than putting it on; it’s your demeanor out there and how you run your routes.”  

DeAirious Smith said he feels that Tino Smith has helped him become a better receiver and better his craft even though Tino Smith has been with the program for less than one year.  

“He’s a technician,” DeAirious Smith said. “I love his coaching style. I think it’s one of the best I’ve had from a receivers coach, honestly.”   

One aspect of Tino Smith’s style that Jeffers likes is how Tino Smith helps the receivers build personality into their playing style by helping them have more swagger when they step on the field.  

“He’s not producing robots out there,” Jeffers said. “He helps us build our personality. And he understands that each wide receiver is different. He’s going to make sure what needs to get done on offense, but it’s going to come in a different way from different wide receivers.”  

With the injuries that have happened thus far within the receiver room, Tino Smith has worked with every receiver to help them improve and get to the next level. With starters in Eli Mirza, DeAirious Smith and Terrance Gipson missing games due to injuries, Tino Smith has worked with the receivers to make sure they’re ready when their numbers are called.   

“Each and every opportunity we have on Saturday is a wake-up call,” Tino Smith said. “It’s unfortunate that sometimes, to be able to get wake-up calls, things necessarily don’t go your way. Sometimes people will say it’s a blessing in disguise, and some people won’t see it as a blessing because we are losing right now, but I believe with every experience, rather it’s a good or a bad experience, you can take a lesson from it.”   

Tino Smith said every game is an opportunity to work together to improve on the game, and he said if everyone stays together, there’s a better chance of the team figuring out what went wrong and improving on their mistakes. 

Even though he has missed the past several games due to injury, DeAirious Smith said he has seen receivers step up and record significant time and statistics to get the job done, and all of that starts with help from their coach.  

Thomas has followed the Panthers’ season thus far, and knowing some receivers are out due to injury, he has seen how Tino Smith has helped the receivers that normally wouldn’t have significant playing time step up.  

“He’s got the ability to coach anybody to do anything,” Thomas said. “It doesn’t surprise me that Cooper Willman is doing what he’s doing. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. There’s going to be hard truths and pushing you to be greater than you can ever imagine, and I think what Cooper [Willman] is doing is a reflection of how coach [Tino] Smith coaches.”  

Willman, a senior, just passed 1,000 receiving yards in his collegiate career, making him the 35th player in program history to do so. Willman has recorded 55 receptions for 853 yards in the season.  

Not only has Thomas seen a significant step up in Willman’s game, Thomas has also seen how Tino Smith’s coaching has helped the younger receivers step up when their jersey numbers are called.   

“Even Q[uenton Rogers] too,” Thomas said. “As a freshman, just starting [and] getting player of the week. It really doesn’t surprise me, even though it’s a little thin depth wise, [Tino Smith] is still getting his guys to perform at a high level.”  

Rogers has recorded 17 receptions for 283 yards throughout seven games this season. Rogers says Tino Smith has helped him gain the techniques and overall confidence it takes to play football at the Division I level.  

“Everything that I know comes from Tino Smith,” Rogers said. “I came into college not knowing a whole lot, but when Tino [Smith] came around, he taught me the footworks, and how to be an athlete and how to be confident in what I’m doing.”  

Coming into Eastern, Smith knew that some of the wide receivers would have been working with multiple coaches within Eastern’s program, so he wanted to make sure him and the players were on the same page.  

“Obviously a new coach coming in is definitely a new transition,” Smith said. “There are guys in the room that have had multiple receiver coaches, so there were question marks, like ‘Who is this guy? Is this guy going to help me on the field?’ Now, I feel like we have a very close-knit group.”  

Even though Smith hasn’t been Thomas’ coach since 2021, Thomas said he’s learned a lot from Smith not only as a player and a coach but also as an overall person off the football field.  

Not only does Smith teach the wide receivers how to read a coverage, the overall fundamentals in route running, how to get off the line of scrimmage and securing the catch, but Smith is also seen as a role model, many of the players said.  

“He’s a guy I’d strive to be on and off the field,” Thomas said. “You can see how he carried himself on the field, and he’s a go-getter. Off the field, he’s just a great person. He always cared about other people and is someone I try to replicate.”  

Rogers said Smith is the type of individual that cares about every single person he crosses paths with. Rogers likes this aspect of Smith because of how loving he is towards his players.  

“Outside of football, he’s always asking how we’re doing, if we’re dealing with something,” Rogers said. “He’s always the first to be there for you. He’s always going to be there by your side, and he’s also going to do checkups on you.”  

Rogers said he likes that Smith is someone that has been extremely patient with his receivers so they can improve significantly over time.  

“Tino [Smith] gave me a lot of confidence, and he really took the time and effort to see what I needed to fix with my game to play at a high level, and to play at full speed,” Rogers said. “Having a coach believe in you as much as he does, it’s an unbelievable feeling to have. I certainly would not be in this position if it wasn’t for him and his patience.”  

Thomas says he still talks to Smith, and their relationship is more than a player and a coach. Smith is someone who has made a positive impact on Thomas’ life throughout his first four years of college from their meaningful conversations with each other.  

“I kid you not, he’s a huge person in my life,” Thomas said. “He’ll be at my wedding. He is literally a chunk of my life. He’s the man.” 

Zaria Flippin can be reached at 581-2812 or at zhflippin@eiu.edu.