Travis Smith enters his 15th year in the NFL and 11th with the Raiders, returning as the defensive line coach for his second stint with the club. Smith, who coached the Silver and Black for 10 seasons from 2012-21, served this past season as the defensive run game coordinator for the Tennessee Titans.

Travis Smith enters his 15th year in the NFL and 11th with the Raiders, returning as the defensive line coach for his second stint with the club. Smith, who coached the Silver and Black for 10 seasons from 2012-21, served this past season as the defensive run game coordinator for the Tennessee Titans.

In 2025, Smith helped DT Jeffery Simmons earn his fourth career Pro Bowl honor after leading all NFL interior defensive linemen in solo tackles (39), tackles for loss (17), sacks (11), sack yards (79.0), quarterback pressures (60), pressure rate (14.5) and forced fumbles (3).

Smith joined the Titans after spending three years (2022-24) as the defensive line coach for the Chicago Bears. In 2024, Chicago ranked 16th in sacks (40) with 16 players registering at least one sack.

In 2023, the Bears led the NFL with the fewest rushing yards allowed (1,468 yards), the second fewest rushing touchdowns allowed (8) and ranked fifth in yards per carry (3.78). Smith helped DE Montez Sweat earn his first Pro Bowl selection after totaling 12.5 sacks.

Prior to joining the Bears, Smith spent 10 seasons with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders, where he served the team in several defensive capacities, including assistant defensive line coach (2020-21), defensive quality control coach (2018-19, 2015-16), outside linebackers coach (2017) and defensive assistant (2012-14).

In 2021, Smith tutored DE Maxx Crosby who earned his first career Pro Bowl honors after posting a then-career-high 56 tackles, eight sacks, 30 quarterback hits and seven passes defensed. DE Yannick Ngakoue added a team-high 10 sacks.

In 2020, Smith helped coach second-year Crosby to a team-high seven sacks after starting in all 16 contests for the first time in his career. Crosby's 17 career sacks are fourth-most in Raiders lore by a player through his first two seasons and tied for fifth-most in NFL history by a player drafted in the fourth round or later since sacks became an official statistic in 1982. Smith also aided DT Johnathan Hankins as he registered one of his best seasons in his career by starting all 16 contests and compiling 48 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble, while primarily leaving his mark as a dominant run defender in the middle.

In his first season as assistant defensive line coach in 2019, Smith helped oversee a unit that showed significant improvements from the previous season, including a 22-spot improvement in rushing yards allowed per game (140.6 in 2018 to 98.1 in 2019) and an eight-spot improvement in the team's sack total (13.0 to 32.0).

Smith aided in the development of rookie defensive ends in Crosby and Clelin Ferrell. Crosby led all Raiders with 10 sacks, as he became just the fourth rookie since at least 2000 to record 10-plus sacks and four forced fumbles. Ferrell added 4.5 sacks, tied for the eighth-most by a rookie in Raiders history. The Raiders rookie defensive ends combined for 14.5 sacks on the year, the most among all rookie draft classes in the NFL. Under Smith's guidance, DT Maurice Hurst recorded 3.5 sacks and was the only defensive tackle in the NFL in 2019 to record at least three sacks, two fumble recoveries and one interception. Additionally, DE Benson Mayowa, along with Crosby, combined to be one of two duos in the NFL to record at least seven sacks and three forced fumbles each.

As a quality control-defense coach in 2018, Smith worked primarily with the linebackers, a group that consisted of three new starters in veteran LB Tahir Whitehead, and second year LBs Marquel Lee and Nicholas Morrow. In his first season in Oakland, Whitehead played 99.71 percent of the team's defensive snaps and led the team with 126 tackles (89 solo). His 126 tackles ranked seventh in club history and marked his third-straight season with 100-plus stops. Smith mentored Lee, who appeared in all 16 games for the first time in his career and posted a career-high 58 tackles and three passes defensed. Morrow finished with 37 tackles, three passes defensed and one forced fumble.

In 2017, Smith aided in the continued development of DE Khalil Mack and sixth-year pro LB Bruce Irvin. Mack led the defense with 10.5 sacks and added a career-high 87 tackles (65) en route to earning his third consecutive Pro Bowl selection. Irvin started all 16 games for the second straight season, tied a career high with eight sacks and tallied a career-high 64 tackles. Under Smith's tutelage, Irvin notched a team-leading four forced fumbles, good for fourth in the NFL.

Throughout the 2016 season, Smith worked closely with the defensive line, aiding third-year All Pro Mack to his second consecutive Pro Bowl and first Defensive Player or the Year honor. Mack's eight-game sack streak during the regular season tied an NFL record, and he came away with a sack-fumble in three consecutive games during that stretch. Mack's elite season earned him numerous individual accolades, including his second Pro Bowl nod, two AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors and the AFC Defensive Player of the Month in November. His campaign was capped with the Pro Football Writers of America Defensive Player of the Year Award and his second First Team All-Pro selection in addition to the Associated Press DPOY honor.

Irvin saw success in his first season with the Silver and Black, starting all 16 games for the first time in his career and tied a franchise record with a career-high six forced fumbles. Mack and Irvin became one of the most dominant duos across the league, combining for 18 sacks and 11 forced fumbles. The defensive line also got significant contributions from DL Denico Autry (37 tackles and two fumble recoveries), DT Stacy McGee (2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles) and DT Dan Williams.

In 2015, Smith contributed to a defense that featured two Pro Bowlers in veteran S Charles Woodson and second-year Mack. Smith worked with Mack as he developed into an elite defender, totaling 15 sacks to rank second in the league and third in franchise history, earning his first Pro Bowl selection. Mack also tied a franchise record with five sacks against Denver in Week 14, becoming just the sixth player in NFL history with five sacks in a single contest since sacks became an official stat in 1982. Smith also helped in the development of rookie DE Mario Edwards Jr., who quickly became a significant contributor, posting 41 tackles (31 solo), two sacks, three passes defensed and three forced fumbles in 10 starts.

As a defensive assistant in 2014, Smith worked extensively with the linebackers and helped tutor Mack as a rookie, who finished third in the voting for the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year. He was also named to the Pro Football Writers of America's All-Rookie Team. Mack was also the only rookie named to the 2014 USA Football All-Fundamentals Team, which honors 26 NFL players who exhibit exemplary football techniques for young players to emulate. In addition, LB Sio Moore notched a career-high 112 tackles.

In 2013, Smith helped a unit that included three new starters in veteran LBs Nick Roach and Kevin Burnett and rookie Moore. Roach played every snap at middle linebacker and posted career highs in tackles (152) and sacks (5.5), while Moore was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team after recording 4.5 sacks in his first season.

Smith joined the Raiders after spending the previous two years in the collegiate ranks. Smith was an offensive technical intern at Colorado in 2011. He coached at Santa Monica (Calif.) Junior College in 2010, assisting the tight ends and the defensive linemen. He also served as an undergraduate assistant coach at Cal Poly.

PERSONAL: Native of Walnut Creek, Calif. …Attended Cal Poly, earning a bachelor's degree in kinesiology...Went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to play football, started coaching while finishing his degree...Attended Foothill High School in Pleasanton, Calif., earning two letters as a linebacker and fullback...Smith and wife, Christina, have a son, Jackson, and a daughter, Harper.