DECATUR — When Tommy Mathews died suddenly in 2015 due to a heart attack, Newton County Academy assistant boys basketball coach Tanner Smith was picked to take over the program.

Smith had graduated from NCA just a couple of years prior, and becoming the head coach meant he would have two seasons of coaching his younger brother, Braden Smith.

In Tanner Smith’s first year as head coach, both brothers admitted there were some rocky moments as the two adjusted to the idea of one being a player and one being a coach. Now, however, Tanner and Braden Smith both say there’s a comfort level with each other’s roles now that they’re two seasons into the situation.

“We were trying to figure out a way not to argue in front of people, because we knew it would happen,” Tanner Smith said. “We talked and tried to keep it player-coach on the floor. We got into one argument at the beginning and another one, but other than that, we didn’t try to argue on the floor.”

It wasn’t — and isn’t — always easy to keep the relationship player-coach, Tanner Smith admitted.

“There are still moments he may come to me mad, and I tell him, ‘You have to relax,’” Tanner Smith said. “‘I’m not your brother here.’ This year has been a lot easier. We’ve connected more on the floor.”

Braden Smith, a senior point guard, said there’s only a three-year age gap between the two, which contributed to the rough goings early on.

“He first took over my 11th-grade year, and it was tough because I didn’t want to listen,” Braden Smith recalled. “Toward the end of that year, it started to get better because I saw it as a player-coach thing.”

In addition to the age gap, Braden Smith said it wasn’t easy having his brother as a coach because he was used to his parents bossing him around, not his brother.

“But my parents always told me life isn’t fair, and I just have to take it as it comes,” Braden Smith added.

Another issue that would add to the tension early on in Tanner Smith’s tenure as head coach was the fact they both live with their parents, meaning there would be some awkward car rides home after practice and the game.

“If we lost, it was really quiet,” Tanner Smith said. “If we won, we talked about how we could’ve won more.”

In reality, Tanner Smith has been bossing his younger brother around since they were younger. Braden Smith recalled growing up playing against his brother in pickup games, saying it wasn’t always the best experience.

“He liked to push me around and prove he was a bigger man, but it was fun,” Braden Smith said. “He taught me a lot growing up.”

Said Tanner Smith, “I always though he could’ve been better at a younger age, so I always pushed him around. We were always on the field or in the gym, throwing and shooting.”

Braden Smith also plays football at NCA as the team’s quarterback, and no matter which sport it is, Tanner Smith said he notices his brother has a knack for making big plays in big moments.

“He’s also not afraid to use his team,” Tanner Smith said. “I’m a team-first guy, and I’ve always told him no matter what, the next day, you have to see those people again.”

Two years ago, Tanner Smith watched as his brother and the rest of the NCA football team won the MAIS Class A state championship, in which Braden Smith hit a long pass to help decide the game in favor of the Generals.

“I think I was more proud for him than he was for himself,” Tanner Smith said of that game.

Taking his sibling relationship out of the equation, Braden Smith said his older brother has proven to be a good coach and a good successor to Mathews.

“He’s pretty calm,” Braden Smith said. “He can get rowdy sometimes, but he sticks to his strategy. He’s not going to panic if it doesn’t go right for one second. He knows the game pretty well from learning under Coach Mathews.”

Tanner Smith recalled how upset he was when he found out Mathews had died and said he’s just trying to carry on that legacy as best he can.

“I (wanted the job), but I didn’t,” Tanner Smith said. “It was something I wanted, but I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries, because I didn’t feel like I could take his place.”

If there’s one thing Tanner Smith learned from Mathews, it was how to treat his players, whether it was his brother or anyone else on the squad.

“It wasn’t as much about how he loved to win, but about how he connected with the players that stood out the most,” Tanner Smith said.