Adam Smith has journeyed the long road in the football world.
With the prospect of starting at wide receiver and punt returner for the Racine Raiders in 1997, Smith, a 1993 graduate of Oregon High School, tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), putting a hold on his playing career and turning his life on a different path.
After suffering his injury, he returned to Oregon and began focusing on a new career.
"It changed my life, it really did," Smith said. "I got into coaching immediately after that, starting at the youth level in Oregon.
"Once I started coaching, I really knew what I wanted to do. It was kind of an epiphany.
"I want to work with kids, and I want to be able to teach football. I realized I could do this and I was good at it."
He enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, pursuing a degree in physical education and coaching. He even made an attempt to return to the gridiron as a member of the Warhawks football team, but after being declared ineligible he decided that it was time to completely focus on his future.
"I was doing good. I worked really hard and was in great shape," he said. "That was my one shot at it."
He graduated from UW-W in 2003.
In 2007, Smith's life took another turn. Contacted by a friend about the revitalized semi-professional football team in Madison, the Mustangs, Smith spoke with owner and head coach Bob Gingras about coming on and being part of the organization.
"Originally, I had turned it down, I was pretty burned out and didn't want anything to do with it," Smith said. " I rethought it, and the next day I called back and talked with Bob. He practically hired me on the spot."
Coming on as the offensive coordinator of the team, Smith has ended up taking over much of the organizational aspect of the team and now wears the mantle of Director of Football Operations as well as coaching.
"I ended up taking over things, nobody could do it and I wanted these guys to be successful, so somebody had to do it," Smith said of the evolution of his involvement with the Mustangs.
"Now it's such a passion. I live and breath it. It doesn't ever seem like work."
His day job is still working with kids as a physical education teacher at Lincoln Elementary in Madison.
But with the growing talent coming to the Mustangs, he's relishing his second job as well.
"The Ironman Football League (which Madison is a part of) has grown in talent, every year it grows in talent," Smith says. "More college-bound players are joining the teams. High school players that might not have wanted to play in college, but decided to go into a trade or work are getting the opportunity to keep living out their desire to play football."
He added that the Madison area is such a football-rich community that interest is growing in the team.
Smith and the Mustangs are enjoying success thus far, undefeated this season at 4-0. The success on the field is what Smith hopes is a reflection of the team's efforts to create a positive image for the organization.
"It's extremely important to me, what we do on the field whether it's Xs and Os, how we act and behave on the field, it's a direct reflection of us as an organization," he said. "To take time out of my day, from my family, it's extremely important to me. It's important we don't lose focus on what's important.
"We have an opportunity to do something really special in our eyes, in the semi-pro community, for our fans and the businesses that support us, it's very important. It's about winning the Iron Bowl (the IFL championship game), and things beyond Iron Bowl."
The Mustangs play their home games at Middleton's Otto Breitenbach Field.
The team has two home games remaining this year - on July 19 versus St. Francis Monarchs and July 27 against the New Berlin Panthers. Ticket prices are $6 for adults.
For more information on the Madison Mustangs, visit www.madisonmustangsfootball.com.
