Fred Smith, the founder of the FedEx Corporation, which revolutionized express delivery, and father of the Steelers’ offensive coordinator, has died at 80, according to Memphis Mayor Paul Young.
“Fred Smith was more than a business leader; he was a visionary whose ideas reshaped not only the global economy but the very identity of Memphis,” said Mayor Young. “When he founded FedEx, he didn’t just launch a company, he changed the way the world moves.”
Smith, the Marine Corps veteran, started FedEx in the 1970s, and in 1973, it began operation. They delivered small parcels and documents at first, and it ultimately grew into a global transportation and logistics company with an average of 17 million shipments per day.
Smith would step down as CEO in 2022 but would remain as the executive chairman of the company.
“As we begin to process this tremendous loss, it is important that we take care of one another and demonstrate the passion and compassion that Fred embodied every day,” said Raj Subramaniam, FedEx President, CEO, and Director. “In the coming days and weeks, I know we will all find ways to honor his memory and pay tribute to his legacy.”
In a 2023 interview with the Associated Press, Smith discussed a gift to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation that he believed could grow in value to $65 million.
“The thing that’s interested me are the institutions and the causes, not the naming or the recognition,” he said at the time.
The Steelers hired Fred’s son, Arthur, in 2024 after he spent 2021-23 as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. He has been a coach in the NFL since 2007, when he first was the defensive quality control coach for Washington. He would then go on to Tennessee, where he held multiple jobs, including defensive quality control coach, offensive quality coach, assistant offensive line coach, assistant tight ends coach, and offensive coordinator.
We have reached out to the Steelers for comment and will update the story once we hear back.
