Stephen Carr Smith (born February 2, 1961) is an American baseball coach and former

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He is the upper-level pitching coordinator for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

from 1982 to 1983. He was the head coach at Baylor (1995–2015) and

Tennessee Tech Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...

(2020–2021).

Early life

Smith graduated from

Gulfport High School Gulfport High School (GHS) is a public high school located in Gulfport, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport School District. In 2019, Gulfport High was given a B-rating from the Mississippi Statewide Accountability System. The ...

Gulfport, Mississippi Gulfport is the second-largest city in Mississippi after the state capital, Jackson. Along with Biloxi, Gulfport is the co-county seat of Harrison County and the larger of the two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan ...

, in 1979. While in high school, Smith played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the football team, leading Gulfport to the 1978 state championship, and

for the baseball team, playing in the 1979 Mississippi High School All-Star Game.

College career

Smith went on to attend

Mississippi College Mississippi College (MC) is a private Baptist university in Clinton, Mississippi. Founded in 1826, MC is the second-oldest Baptist-affiliated college or university in the United States and the oldest college or university in Mississippi. Histor ...

where was played

for the football team and

for the baseball team. He transferred to

after two seasons, where he pitched for the

Baylor Bears baseball The Baylor Bears baseball team represents Baylor University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team belongs to the Big 12 Conference and plays home games at Baylor Ballpark. The Bears are currently led by head coach Mitch Thompson, who wa ...

team under

Mickey Sullivan Mickey Sullivan (February 6, 1932 – March 22, 2012) was the head baseball coach at Baylor from 1974 to 1994. Early life Sullivan was born in Aransas Pass, Texas on February 6, 1932 to Alva Sullivan and Effie Sullivan, née McCollum. Sulliva ...

. In 1982, Smith led the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

with a 1.72

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

. He was drafted by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

in the fifth round of the

1983 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1983 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Compensation picks Other notable players *Bill Swift, 2nd round, 29th overall by the Minnesota Twins, but did not ...

Minor league career

Smith began his professional career in 1983 with the Rookie League

Great Falls Giants Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

of the Pioneer League. He spent the 1984 season with the Class A

Fresno Giants The Fresno Giants were a minor league baseball team that played in the California League from 1941 to 1988. The team was based in Fresno, California. First teams The city of Fresno had professional baseball as far back as 1898 when it had a team ...

of the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

and the Class AA

Shreveport Captains The Shreveport Captains (1971–2000) and Shreveport Swamp Dragons (2001–02) were a professional minor-league baseball team based in Shreveport, Louisiana. They were affiliated with the California Angels (1971–72), Milwaukee Brewers (1973–74 ...

of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. Smith spent the entire 1985 season as well as most of the 1986 season with the Fresno Giants before being called up to the Class AAA

Phoenix Firebirds The Phoenix Firebirds were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1958 to 1959, and from 1966 to 1997. Before 1986, the team was known as the Phoenix Giants. The franchise was a member of the Triple-A Pacific Coast Le ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

Coaching career

Smith's coaching career began as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respons ...

for the

Texas A&M Aggies baseball The Texas A&M Aggie baseball team represents Texas A&M University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The Aggies have competed in the Southeastern Conference since 2013. The Aggies play home games at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park. The team is ...

team in 1988. After two seasons at Texas A&M, Smith became an assistant coach for the

Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball The Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball team representing Mississippi State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The program is a member of the West Division of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

team in 1990, helping lead the Bulldogs to the

1990 College World Series The 1990 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1990 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, ...

. Upon

's retirement from

following the 1994 season, Smith became the head coach for the

team. In 1998, Smith led Baylor back to the

NCAA Division I Baseball Championship The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the eight-team Men's College World Series at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebr ...

for the first time since 1993. In 2000, Smith led Baylor to a

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

championship, Baylor's first conference championship in baseball since 1966. Smith would lead Baylor to subsequent Big 12 championships in 2005 and 2012. In 2005, Smith led Baylor to the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

for the first time since 1978. With a win over

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

on April 17, 2012, Smith passed Sullivan to become the winningest coach in Baylor history. Smith has had 67 players selection in the

Major League Baseball Draft The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...

, including six first round draft choices in

Kip Wells Robert "Kip" Wells (born April 21, 1977) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. In his Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox ...

Jason Jennings Jason Ryan Jennings (born July 17, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball with the Colorado Rockies (2001-2006), Houston Astros (2007) and Texas Rangers (2008-2009). High school/college ...

, Chad Hawkins, David Murphy,

Mark McCormack Mark Hume McCormack (November 6, 1930 – May 16, 2003) was an American lawyer, sports agent and writer. He was the founder and chairman of International Management Group, now IMG, an international management organization serving sports ...

and Aaron Miller. Twelve Baylor players have earned All-American honors under Smith, with

winning the

Golden Spikes Award The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to ...

Dick Howser Trophy The Dick Howser Trophy is bestowed annually to the national college baseball player of the year. The award is named after former collegiate and Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager Dick Howser, who died of brain cancer in 1987 at the age ...

and

Rotary Smith Award The Rotary Smith Award was created in 1988 to honor the most outstanding college baseball player of the year. The award was founded by the Greater Houston Sports Association. In 1996, the Rotary Club of Houston joined the award committee. Prior to ...

as the best player in college baseball, and

Kelly Shoppach Kelly Brian Shoppach (pronounced SHOP-ick; born April 29, 1980) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Mets, Seattle Mariner ...

winning the

Johnny Bench Award The Buster Posey Award, formerly known as the Johnny Bench Award, was created in 2000 to honor college baseball's top catcher in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The award is administered by the Greater Wichita Area Sp ...

as the best

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

in college baseball. 39 players have earned first-team All-Conference honors under Smith, with

and Josh Ludy earning

Big 12 Conference Baseball Player of the Year The Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year is a baseball award given to the Big 12 Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1997 season, with both pitchers and position players eligible. After the 2001 season, th ...

honors. In 2012, the Bears won 49 games and hosted a Super Regional, but proceeded to have three losing seasons after that. Smith was fired after the 2015 season. In 2017, Smith served as an Assistant Baseball Coach at

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

. In August 2017, Smith accepted a role of volunteer assistant and pitching coach at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

. On December 21, 2019, Smith accepted the position of head baseball coach at

Tennessee Technological University Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...

. After just two seasons, Smith left Tennessee Tech for a job with the

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Steve 1961 births Living people American football quarterbacks Baseball pitchers Auburn Tigers baseball coaches Baylor Bears baseball coaches Baylor Bears baseball players Mississippi College Choctaws baseball players Mississippi College Choctaws football players Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball coaches Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles baseball coaches Texas A&M Aggies baseball coaches Santa Clara Broncos baseball coaches Sportspeople from Waco, Texas