Warren Smith

Warren Smith (born February 20, 1990) is an American former professional football quarterback. He is currently the head football coach for Absegami High School, a position he has held since 2025. He played college football for Iona and Maine. Smith played professionally for the Dresden Monarchs of the German Football League (GFL), the Richmond Raiders and Trenton Freedom of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL), the Spokane Shock, Tampa Bay Storm, Washington Valor, and Atlantic City Blackjacks of the Arena Football League (AFL), the Philadelphia Yellow Jackets of American Indoor Football (AIF), and the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks, Jersey Flight, Jacksonville Sharks, and Albany Empire of the National Arena League (NAL).

Early life Smith played high school football at Lacey Township High School in Lacey Township, New Jersey.

College career Smith continued his football career playing for Iona College, where he was named the team's starting quarterback as a freshman in 2008. Following the 2008 season, Iona dropped football from its athletics programs, leaving the players the ability to transfer without sitting out a season. Smith decided to transfer to the University of Maine, where he won the starting quarterback position as a junior in 2010, leading the Black Bears to a 4–7 record. As a senior in 2011, he led the team to an 8–3 regular season record, helping the Black Bears qualify for the NCAA Championship Playoffs. The Black Bears won their first-round game, but lost in the second round to Georgia Southern. Smith was named second-team All-Colonial Athletic Association following the season.

Professional career

Dresden Monarchs In 2012, Smith signed with the Dresden Monarchs of the German Football League (GFL). Smith was the Monarchs leading passer and second leading rusher on the season. The Monarchs finished third in the northern division of the GFL with a 10–4 record and qualified for the play-offs where they were defeated by the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes in the semi-finals.

Richmond Raiders In 2013, Smith signed with the Richmond Raiders of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). Smith guided the Raiders to a 7–5 record during the regular season, tying the second best record in the PIFL. Smith and the Raiders won their playoff game against the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks, but would lose PIFL Cup II to the Alabama Hammers.

Trenton Freedom In 2014, Smith signed with the expansion Trenton Freedom, also of the PIFL. Smith's impressive 46 touchdowns passing and 13 more rushing, led to him being named the 2014 PIFL MVP.

Spokane Shock In October 2014, Smith was assigned to the Spokane Shock of the Arena Football League (AFL) for the 2015 season. Shortly after signing with the Shock, Smith, who was working as a substitute teacher at the time, acquired the Shock's video archive password from head coach Andy Olson and ended up watching every Shock 2014 regular season game during breaks in class. Smith made his first career AFL start for the Shock during their Week 7 game against the Los Angeles KISS, completing 23 of 29 attempts with six touchdowns in a 68–46 victory. He finished the season with 1,816 passing yards, 32 passing touchdowns, 11 interceptions and five rushing touchdowns in eight starts at quarterback.

Philadelphia Yellow Jackets On October 15, 2015, Smith signed with the Philadelphia Yellow Jackets of American Indoor Football. On May 24, 2016, Smith was released.

Philadelphia Soul On October 16, 2015, Smith was assigned to the Philadelphia Soul of the AFL. On February 5, 2016, Smith was reassigned by the Soul.

Lehigh Valley Steelhawks On May 24, 2016, Smith signed with the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks of the National Arena League (NAL). He earned NAL MVP and first-team All-NAL honors in 2017 after playing in 10 games while completing 169 of 256 passes for 1,953 yards, 56 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He re-signed with the Steelhawks in September 2017.

Tampa Bay Storm On July 19, 2016, Smith was assigned to the AFL's Tampa Bay Storm. He completed two of two pass attempts for 21 yards in the Storm's playoff loss to the Philadelphia Soul. He also rushed once for three yards.

Baltimore Brigade Smith was the eighth, and final, player selected by the Baltimore Brigade of the AFL in the January 2017 expansion draft. He was placed on league suspension on February 10, 2017.

Washington Valor On July 14, 2017, Smith was claimed off reassignment by the Washington Valor. He started the team's final game of the season, completing 21 of 35 passes for 229 yards, 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in a 41–35 win against the Baltimore Brigade. He also scored a rushing touchdown in the game. On March 21, 2018, he was assigned to the Valor. On May 22, 2018, he was placed on reassignment, but was reassigned to the Valor on May 24.

Atlantic City Blackjacks On March 5, 2019, Smith was assigned to the Atlantic City Blackjacks of the AFL. He was the backup to Randy Hippeard during the 2019 season but saw playing time due to injuries. Smith played in all eight games for Jersey in 2021, completing 167 passes for 1,561 yards and 25 touchdowns while also scoring four rushing touchdowns.

Jacksonville Sharks On February 9, 2022, Smith signed with the Jacksonville Sharks for the 2022 NAL season. Smith won the 2022 NAL title as the backup quarterback for the Empire. He completed 17 of 21 passes for 146 yards and six touchdowns during the 2022 season.

Coaching career In 2013, Smith rejoined his alma mater, Lacey Township High School, as the school's offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator. He also coached basketball at Lacey Township, and taught health and physical education.