Steve Smith Sr. had already compiled an impressive NFL resume as a playmaking member of the Carolina Panthers before he signed with the Baltimore Ravens before the 2014 season. He continued his presence as a standout wide receiver with the AFC North organization before his career ended after the 2016 campaign.

New Wisconsin offensive coordinator Bobby Engram mentored Baltimore's wide outs between 2014-18, and Smith praised the assistant effusively when asked what his former position coach taught and helped him with during his time with the franchise.

“I really think a good coach can enhance what you already know," Smith told BadgerBlitz.com last week. "A piss-poor coach, you’re gonna get an average return on your investment, and that’s just how I look at it. Sometimes these coaches get more accolades than they deserve, because they fall into a good place.

"One thing I love about Bobby, and why me and Bobby are still friends to this day, is Bobby understands the lingo. He understands the mindset, he understands a player, but he also gives that perspective now as a coach."

Engram spent eight years total as a Baltimore Ravens assistant, working as the tight ends coach most recently from 2019-21. Mark Andrews caught 107 passes for 1,361 yards and nine touchdowns during the 2021 campaign on way to AP All-Pro accolades, and the former Oklahoma standout has hauled in 229 receptions and 26 touchdowns the past three seasons under the guidance of the former college and NFL receiver.

Along with Smith, Engram also worked with wide receivers Mike Wallace, who eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving in 2016, and Torrey Smith, who scored 11 touchdowns on 49 receptions in 2014.

Smith caught 836 career passes for 12,197 yards and 67 touchdowns before he joined Baltimore. He recorded two seasons of 70 or more receptions in the three years as a Raven (doing so just seven times in 13 years prior in a Panthers uniform). He reeled in an additional 195 receptions for 2,534 yards and 14 touchdowns between 2014-16.

Even with all those stats that can be presented as evidence of success, Smith looked beyond that.

"There were times where I had a good year, but yet, I was sitting in meetings," Smith said. "Me and Bobby during a bye week, we went over every single play that I had, and we walked through what was good about it, and what was bad about it. That's how he helped me become a better player -- he assisted and continued to add on to my hard work, but also the terminology and the fundamentals, getting back to the basics. And that's what Bobby brings to the table. It's not about what he helped me do. It’s what he helped me understand, and I think that's the part that people miss.

"They want to spout off statistics and say, ‘Oh, this guy helped you out in three years.’ So what? But what he really helped me with is the mental aspects of the game, the human aspect of the game. There were times, even when I had a bad practice, he would check in. ‘What's going on? How are you?’ The man, the human element of it."

Engram -- who finished his 14-year NFL career with 650 receptions for 7,751 yards and 35 touchdowns -- spoke with reporters last Friday inside the McClain Center during his first media availability as Wisconsin offensive coordinator. Which position group he will lead remains to be determined, but he mentioned that the move from coaching wide receivers to tight ends in Baltimore "helped my growth exponentially," according to the assistant.

Smith brought up the change and its effects unprompted days prior to Engram's introductory press conference, and he also called his former coach "a helluva offensive coordinator."

"He's made the transition," Smith said. "I think as a wide receivers coach, sometimes you get lumped in to vein, like one-dimensional, and it is true being one-dimensional. As an [NFL Network] analyst, I see when you're just in a wide receivers room, compared to when you’re in the tight ends room, there's responsibilities that tight ends have, that offensive linemen have. There's responsibilities that offensive linemen have that automatically impact tight ends so understanding in the run game, understand the scheme in the run game, also understanding the blocking scheme in the pass game. So as a wide receiver coach or a wide receiver, wide receiver coaches know it, but you're not regurgitating it. You're not learning to mingle everything. That’s one thing that I've had to do as an analyst is ask my co-workers [NFL Network analysts] Joe Thomas or Willie McGinest, a defensive guy, to understand the lingo of the offense, so the offensive linemen, tight ends.

“And Bobby made that transition, and he understands it. He already has been around football for such a long time. He's been as a player and then now as a coach, he's seen all these different offenses. What works, what doesn't work, good run game, bad run game. So then now, being tied in and seeing the stuff that he can help guys with because of what he has experienced and other guys he's coached and seen and done, he asked that, and that's why the best receiver group for the Baltimore Ravens were the tight ends because they had one of the best coaches out there. So I just think that all goes hand-in-hand.”

As Bobby Engram guided Smith during their time together in the league, the latter also took the time with the next generation. Smith told BadgerBlitz.com he worked with Dean Engram, Bobby's son, last summer.

Dean, who UW noted would take on a new role as a wide receiver from his previous cornerback duties, confirmed to reporters on Friday that a visit to North Carolina took place.

“We were really just focusing on the mental aspect of the game, not so much receiver work, corner work," Dean Engram said. "Just focusing on how to shape your mind and be ready to get better every day, and that was the opportunity that I'm forever grateful for because that's just not something you do every day.

"Being able to work with him this summer, and my little brother came on the trip, being able to get some time before the season and work with him was really awesome.”

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