Former Jets coach speaks to Amityville students

While speaking to students in Amityville on Monday, Collette Smith said one female student begged to come speak with her.

Smith — a former professional women’s football player who, as a coaching intern with the New York Jets in 2017, became the first African-American woman, and third female overall, to coach in the NFL — invited her up. The girl told Smith that she loved football but is never allowed to play.     

“So, I said, “I went through the same thing.  What are you going to do about it today?’” said Smith, 49, a Queens resident.  “And she said, ‘When I go home I’m going to tell my mom and I’m going back there and they’re going to let me play.’  We high-fived and I told her it starts with believing in yourself.”

That was the message Smith delivered to fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students during an assembly at Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School. “My favorite moment of the day was seeing the kids' facial expressions change because they received my message,” Smith said.  “They are capable of achieving any- and everything they desire.”

Smith desired to play football from an early age.  But she said she wasn’t allowed to play Pop Warner youth football like her brother. Instead, she was a cheerleader.

“I was the worst cheerleader.  On purpose, too,” she said with a laugh.  “I could have been a great one because I liked to dance. But that’s not why I wanted to be out there on that field.”

She finally stepped on the field to play organized tackle football when she was 42 years old, spending three seasons as a free safety with the New York Sharks of the Women's Football Alliance.  After knee surgery, she became a coach and the director of marketing for the team.  Smith said her social media posts for the team caught the eye of members of the Jets organization, ultimately leading to an invite to practice with field access. 

There, Smith said, she had a conversation with Jets head coach Todd Bowles, who she said extended an open invitation to future practices.    

“I went often, almost weekly, and hung around players and coaches and gave my input,” Smith says. “It was about a year until I got that phone call from Coach Bowles and he said, ‘I’d love for you to be my coach this summer.’”

Smith made her debut in late July 2017, assisting the defensive backs coach during a training camp practice.  She has since become a motivational speaker and founded her own company, Believe N You Inc.

She was the keynote speaker at Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School on Monday for the start of the school’s annual College and Career Week, which principal Robyn Santiago said exposes students to various careers and the preparations to reach them. In addition to her speech, Smith, wearing a Jets visor and shirt, showed a video that included clips of her playing football and coaching the Jets.           

“The students have never seen or actually got to speak to a football player or coach, never mind a female,” Santiago said.  “So, both the boys and the girls were enthralled with her.  She used herself as an example that you should never give up on your dreams and that it’s never too late.”

Questions from students ranged from the challenges Smith faced, to what tackling feels like, to if Smith was afraid being the only female coach.

“And I answered them honestly,” Smith said.  “I said I was scared, I was nervous. But my response was that knowledge is power.”  By preparing herself for the opportunity at Jets practice, Smith likened the situation to knowing the answer to a question in class and hoping the teacher calls on you for the answer. 

Smith will be honored by the NAACP in Central Islip in January and has been invited by the Cameroon Federation of American Football to go to Africa in March to teach American football. While a return to coaching is a possibility, Smith said her true passion is inspiring others.

“I realized my platform is powerful to enable others to believe in themselves,” she said.  “I want these kids to know that greatness lives inside of them.”