By Randy Lefko
randy@claytodayonline.com

ORANGE PARK - About two weeks after being named the new head football coach Merlin Smith, the elder Smith got an even better gift when his daughter Jauhna was named the head volleyball coach for the Lady Panthers.
"It's nice to be able to walk from my office and see her coaching in the gym," said Smith, with nearly two decades of coaching football in Clay County; St. Johns Country Day School and Oakleaf Junior High School. "I've been in the stands most times for all of her games here and even in college and now it seems like we are cohorts in a funny way."
For Jauhna Smith, who was a double district title winner under then coach Destiny Brightman at Ridgeview, then a standout at Erskine College before returning home to first work in the Jacksonville Jaguars organization as a community events associate to being junior varsity coach at Ridgeview under Steven Henry, then an assistant coach for St. Johns Country Day School's Jenna Williams in her first year last season.
"It kind of all circles around I guess," said Jauhna Smith. "My dad and I are pretty close on the field as competitors and my mom, Nicole, is like the ultimate sports mom. She knows a lot about the emotional, mental side of competing."
When the two started their respective jobs in the Ridgeview athletic program, it was a day or two before the athletes on the teams put the pieces together about the father/daughter connection.
"I think it was one of the team managers that told them about us being family," said Jauhna Smith. "At first, they were guessing."
Jauhna, being the only child of a very athletic family, thought the dynamic of having a dad in the same building was not a new feel.
"He's been by my side my entire life, literally," said Jauhna. "He and mom have been to nearly every single game of mine and, of course, we talk shop all the time."
For Merlin Smith, the daughter dynamic is one of the fatherhood moments that he spoke highly of.
"It's amazing," said Merlin Smith. "I enjoy being around her and watching her interact with the kids. Sometimes, I have to fight the urge to come in and just watch her coach."
Smith and Smith both agreed that their dynamic in a father-daughter, father-coach situation brings with it certain special moments of confirmation.
"When I see little things that she does on the court to inspire or teach her kids, I sometimes laugh and think to myself how I used to use that with my kids at the junior high," said Merlin Smith, 54. "She came to my games to watch me coach and vice versa so we both take from each other. I like that she is a strategist out there. I employ the same thought process with my football guys because when I got here, I had little idea what was here and I had to take from this, take from that and give my kids the best next move."
One interesting phase of the relationship is the daily drama of teenagers in general that Merlin Smith has dealt with for decades.
"That's one part of the deal that I do give some advice on, but not a lot," said Merlin Smith. "I have to laugh sometimes because she kind of forgets how close in age she is to the girls she is coaching. I've seen the best of teenage drama in my time."
Another aspect of Jauhna Smith's take on coaching, said Merlin Smith, is her smarts of the game.
"She has always been cerebral on the court when she plays," said Merlin Smith. "She knew what her skill set was; big jumping ability, quickness, and readiness, because she wasn't the biggest kid out there most times, she had to be smarter and faster. She can bring that part of her game to the kids today."
Jauhna Smith's work ethic, she said, was instilled by her dad and the "cerebral" end of it was something that maybe her mom put in there.
"Mom always said I have to outsmart the players bigger than me," said Jauhna Smith. "She said too that knowing everything about the game I was to play was important. Both taught me effort was key to success and not just on the court, but in life in general."
Merlin Smith noted that he has not offered when not asked about what he would do, but there is a look.
"Even if she gets teed up by a ref for a technical foul or something, I'll just give her a hug and shell out the $250 for the fine," said Merlin Smith. "She has a passion for what she is doing and that's all I can ask for."
As the seasons begin to open up; Ridgeview volleyball on Tuesday and Ridgeview football on Friday, the Smiths