Dunbar football coach Lawrence Smith has received an impressive award from a group of his peers, namely coaches, as he was named the Black Coaches and Administrators National High School Coach of the Year at the organization's national convention last week in Atlanta.

Smith, who took over the Poets last August after former coach Ben Eaton died of a heart attack just before the season, guided Dunbar to its second straight Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association 1A title, a perfect 14-0 record and the No. 2 ranking in the Baltimore area.