If you want to know about Terry Smith’s Penn State playing career, you could ask Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano.

If you want to know what Smith was like when he directed the Gateway High School football program from 2001-12, well, you could ask Schiano about that, too.

Schiano, whose Rutgers team faces Smith’s Penn State team on Saturday afternoon with a bowl bid on the line, was a PSU coach when Smith was an impact wideout at Penn State in 1991.

Smith was also a captain on the Nittany Lions’ 1991 team that finished 11-2 and smushed Tennessee, 42-17, in the Fiesta Bowl.

Smith’s fellow Penn State captains that season were Mark D’Onofrio, Sam Gash, Keith Goganious, Al Golden and Darren Perry.

“I’m excited to face coach Schiano,” Smith said on Monday of 5-6 Penn State’s New Jersey road trip to play 5-6 Rutgers in Piscataway.

“He was a coach on staff when I played here, so I know him very well.”

Earlier this week, Schiano talked at length about the time he shared with Smith at Penn State. He began his PSU career as a grad assistant in 1990 and coached the Lions’ defensive backs from 1991-95.

During Smith’s final season at PSU, he caught 55 passes for 846 yards and eight touchdowns.

“His brother Harvey (Smith) was actually a graduate assistant with me at Penn State,” Schiano said when asked about Terry Smith. “Harvey and I shared an office, and Terry was a player then, an exceptional player.

“(He) led the team receptions, I think, ‘91. Punt returner, and really just a tremendous college football player.”

Schiano is not surprised Smith has the Lions on a roll after being named Penn State interim head coach Oct. 12. PSU has won two consecutive games, drilling Nebraska, 37-10, last Saturday at home.

“(He) truly over-performed (as a player), he was not the biggest guy,” Schiano said of Smith. “He was just a tenacious competitor. You could see that. He was captain of our team, one of our captains. You knew that he had something special.

“And then I got to watch Terry coach at Gateway, where he did a tremendous job. None of this surprises me. Terry’s an excellent football coach.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)