Travis Smith is in his first season with the Titans and his 15th season coaching in the NFL. He was hired by the Titans in 2025 as defensive run game coordinator after three years with the Chicago Bears as defensive line coach.

In his final season in Chicago, Smith coached a defensive line that helped Chicago rank in the top 10 in turnover margin at plus-eight.

In 2023, Smith led a defensive line group that contributed to the Bears ranking first in the NFL in rushing defense (86.4 opponent rushing yards per game). The Bears also ranked second in the league in fewest rushing touchdowns allowed (eight) and allowed only one 100-yard rusher (Week 18 - Aaron Jones). Smith guided Bears defensive lineman Montez Sweat, who was acquired in Week 9, to his first Pro Bowl nomination. Sweat led both the Bears (6.0) and Commanders (6.5) in sacks in 2023. Veteran defensive linemen Justin Jones, DeMarcus Walker, Andrew Billings and Yannick Ngakoue also provided support to Chicago's top-ranked run defense.

In his first year as the Bears defensive line coach in 2022, he helped guide a defense that was the youngest on-field roster in the NFL, as Bears defensive rookies led all teams with 3,538 snaps. Under Smith, Chicago's defensive line helped create pressure for a secondary that finished the season ranking near the top of the league in several categories, including fewest completions (323, sixth) and fewest receiving touchdowns (22, T-11th).

Smith spent 10 years within the Las Vegas Raiders organization prior to his arrival in Chicago. He completed his tenure with the Raiders as assistant defensive line coach from 2019 to 2021.

In 2021, Smith was a part of the staff that helped guide Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby to his first Pro Bowl, where he earned Pro Bowl Defensive MVP honors. The third-year defensive end posted a career-high 56 tackles, eight sacks, 30 quarterback hits and seven passes defensed. He teamed with Ngakoue, who added 10 sacks.

In 2020, Crosby recorded a team-high seven sacks in his second year in the NFL, while starting in all 16 contests for the first time in his career. Crosby's 17 career sacks were the fourth-most in Raiders history 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 individual sacks became an official statistic in 1982.

In his first season as assistant defensive line coach in 2019, Smith helped oversee a defensive line that showed significant improvements from the 2018 season, including a 22-spot improvement in rushing yards allowed per game (140.6 avg. in 2018 to a 98.1 avg. in 2019) and an eight-spot improvement in the team's sack total (13 to 32). Smith also aided in the development of rookie defensive ends in Crosby and Clelin Ferrell. Crosby led all Raiders with 10 sacks on the year, as he became just the fourth rookie since at least 2000 to record 10-plus sacks and four forced fumbles. Crosby's 10 sacks ranked second in the NFL in 2019 and second in franchise history among rookies. Crosby also became the second rookie in club annals to earn AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors after his four-sack performance in Week 11, a mark tied for the second-most in NFL history among rookie defenders. Ferrell also benefited from Smith's guidance, as he posted 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.

As a defensive quality control coach in 2018, Smith primarily worked with the linebackers. He tutored a group that consisted of three new starters, including veteran linebacker Tahir Whitehead and second-year linebackers Marquel Lee and Nicholas Morrow. In his first season with the Raiders, Whitehead played 99.7 percent of the team's defensive snaps and led the team with 126 tackles which ranked seventh in club history.

In 2017, with Smith leading Oakland's outside linebackers, Khalil Mack led the defense with 10.5 sacks and added a career-high 78 tackles. Mack earned his third consecutive Pro Bowl selection.

Throughout the 2016 season, Smith worked closely with the defensive line, coaching 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 strip sack in three consecutive games during that stretch. Mack's season performance earned him numerous individual accolades, including his second Pro Bowl nod, two AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors and being named AFC Defensive Player of the Month in November.

In 2015, Smith contributed to a Raiders defense that featured two Pro Bowlers in veteran safety Charles Woodson and second-year linebacker 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.

Smith worked extensively with the Raiders linebackers in 2014. He helped tutor Mack as a rookie, who finished third in the voting for the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year.

In 2013, Smith helped a unit that included three new starters in veteran linebackers Nick Roach and Kevin Burnett and rookie linebacker Sio 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 two years in the collegiate ranks. In 2011, he served as an offensive technical intern at the University of Colorado. Prior to his time in Boulder, 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.

A native of Walnut Creek, Calif., he attended Foothill High School in Pleasanton, Calif., where he earned two letters as a linebacker and fullback. After graduating, Smith went on to earn a bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Cal Poly State University, where he was a member of the Mustangs football program from 2004 to 2009.

Smith and wife, Christina, have a son, Jackson and a daughter, Harper.

TRAVIS SMTIH TIMELINE

COACHING

2025: Defensive Run Game Coordinator – Tennessee Titans

2022-24: Defensive Line – Chicago Bears

2019-21: Assistant Defensive Line – Las Vegas Raiders

2018: Defensive Quality Control – Oakland Raiders

2017: Outside Linebackers – Oakland Raiders

2015-16: Defensive Quality Control – Oakland Raiders

2012-14: Defensive Assistant – Oakland Raiders

2011: Offensive Technical Intern – University of Colorado

2010: Tight Ends and Defensive Line Assistant – Santa Monica (Calif.) Junior College