Dunbar football coach Lawrence Smith has been named the 2021 Ravens High School Coach of the Year, becoming the first two-time winner of the annual award.
Smith guided the Poets to the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association Class 2A/1A title this past season, Dunbar’s seventh championship under Smith and first since 2017. Smith holds a 155-24 record in 14 seasons as coach.
“It’s a total honor. There was a lot of coaches out there that really deserved this and I’m grateful they picked me,” said Smith, who also won the award in 2007.
The Poets’ 38-6 victory in the title game over South Carroll clinched an undefeated season for the Baltimore City school — a feat they last accomplished 14 years ago in Smith’s inaugural season as coach.
“This year, under the circumstances we went through not having a season the year before, guys worked in the offseason really well,” Smith said. “They bought into the weight room, they bought into the virtual engagement … So when we got out on the field, the guys hit the ground running and they were already stating what they wanted to do and they just wanted to come back and succeed.”
Notching five shutout victories and averaging more than 47 points per game, the Poets were dominant on both offense and defense, winning 12 games by 30-plus points. Smith praised quarterback Devin Roche and assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Michael Carter for their work in helping Dunbar secure its 11th state championship.
“Each team that comes in wants to outdo the previous teams so there’s great tradition and they always want to be mentioned with the best guys and the great teams Dunbar has had,” said Smith, who is thankful to be mentioned alongside past Poets coaches such as William “Sugar” Cain, Bob Wade, Pete Pompey, Stanley Mitchell and his mentor Ben Eaton.
In addition to Smith’s work on the football field, he also serves as a Baltimore City Public Schools Police Detective.
“I would like to thank my principal, Dr. Yetunde Reeves, my athletic director, Dana Johnson, and Baltimore City’s interscholastic athletic coordinator, Tiffany Byrd, for their support of our program,” Smith said. “When you have high school athletic teams that succeed, it all starts with the administration. We have a great principal who values athletics and does a great job making sure academics and athletics go together at Dunbar.”
Each week during the 2021 season, the Ravens honored a high school coach who made a significant impact on his student-athletes. The winners were in attendance for the Ravens’ home finale against the Los Angeles Rams on Jan. 2 at M&T Bank Stadium and received a $2,000 donation to his school’s football program.
As the 24th recipient of the award, Smith received an additional $2,000 donation toward Dunbar’s football program, and this week will attend the Pro Bowl in Las Vegas as the Ravens’ nominee for the Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year award.
2021 Ravens High School Coach of the Week recipients
Week 1: Steve Erxleben, South River
Week 2: Josh Ward, Calvert Hall
Week 3: Lawrence Smith, Dunbar
Week 4: Thomas Browne, Oakland Mills
Week 5: Damian Ferragamo, Kent Island
Week 6: Keith Robinson, Fallston
Week 7: Matt Banta, Dundalk
Week 8: Kevin Pirri, Frederick
Week 9: Justin Martinek, North Harford
Week 10: Quinten Jones, North County
Source: Berkshire mont
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