Spencer Smith
Head Men's Soccer Coach

THE SMITH FILE

Profile:

Time flies when you're having fun-just ask Highlanders men's soccer coach Spencer Smith.
Smith enters the 2006 season, his 13th at RU, as the winningest coach in RU history, capturing 105 wins in his 12 seasons. He has built on an already strong foundation, making the RU soccer program one of the most consistent in the Big South Conference and Mid-Atlantic Region.

Smith reached the 50-win plateau faster than any coach in school history. He’s the only RU soccer coach top net 100 wins. He earned his 86th win in 2003 with a 2-1 win over VMI, giving him the most wins of any RU coach and surpassing his predecessor Don Staley who recorded 85 career wins.

His banner seasons came from 1998 to 2000, during which he captured one Big South regular season title and then took the Highlanders to back-to-back NCAA Tournament play-in games, winning the Big South Championship twice. In 1998 his team posted 11 wins (his fourth 11-win season in his first five years as head coach), went undefeated in Big South play (5-0-1) and earned the regular season crown.

Then in 1999 he worked some magic. After finishing the year 5-11-4, 2-4-1 in Big South matches, Smith guided his team to three crucial wins in the Big South Tournament, leading RU to its second-ever Big South title and its first trip to the postseason.

He bounced back during the 2000 regular season, guiding an RU squad picked to finish third in the Big South Conference to a 12-10 record and their second consecutive Conference championship. Moreover, the 12 victories established the third highest total in school history and the most since RU posted back-to-back 15-win seasons in 1990 and 1991. Along the way, Smith masterminded a 3-2 win at preseason No. 1 Duke, snapping the Blue Devils' 23-match home regular season winning streak.

Last season he appeared set for another landmark year, reeling off wins in his first five Big South games. Smith finished at 5-2 in Big South play, his best mark since the title run in 2000.
When the 41-year-old Smith arrived on the Radford campus in 1994, he inherited a team coming off the worst record in school history, and his impact was immediate. He led the 1994 squad to an 11-7-2 record and was rewarded with the Big South Coach of the Year honors. He became the first coach in RU history to guide the team to double-digit wins in his first year and he hasn't let up.

A superb soccer tactician, a tremendous motivator and an excellent recruiter, Smith rebuilt down-trodden programs at North Carolina Wesleyan and Lincoln Memorial before coming to Radford. In his final year at NC Wesleyan, he was named the Dixie Conference Coach of the Year. He had also taken Lincoln Memorial to its District Tournament in 1989.

A 1987 graduate of the University of Tennessee, Smith was a four-year starter of the Vols' soccer team. A captain in 1985 and 1986, Smith earned most valuable player honors as a senior. He played overseas in 1987 and 1988, training with the Sheffield United professional team and playing for the Stannington Soccer Club.

A native of Baltimore, Md. Smith was very active in the state Olympic Development Program, serving as head coach of the state u-18 team from 1994-1998. He was also the chairman of the NSCAA South Atlantic Regional Rankings Committee and a member of the NCAA Regional Selection Committee.

Smith, his wife Julie, their eight-year-old daughter Alyssa, year-old son Landon and newborn daughter Merric live in Radford.