Fred Goldsmith (born March 3, 1944) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player and coach. He served as the head football coach at

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock University, formally Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (The Rock or SRU), is a public university in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. SRU is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The university ...

(1981),

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...

(1989–1993), Duke University (1994–1998), and

Lenoir–Rhyne University Lenoir–Rhyne University is a private Lutheran university in Hickory, North Carolina. Founded in 1891, the university is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Academics The university ...

(2007–2010), compiling a career record of 59–104–1.

Coaching career

Goldsmith is perhaps best known for his head coaching stints at two

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

football programs:

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

and

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

. He was recognized as the 1992 Sports Illustrated National NCAA Football Coach of the Year for leading Rice to within one win of a bowl game. The Owls finished 6-5 and tied for second in 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 ...

, their best showing in conference play in 28 years. However, a 61-32 rout at the hands of intercity rival

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

left them out of a bowl. Primarily on the strength of turning the Rice program around, he was hired at Duke in 1994, where he won the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award in his first season after leading the Blue Devils to their first winning season in six years, and only their eighth winning season in 30 years. However, this momentum did not last, and within two years the Blue Devils had crumbled to the second winless season in school history. Goldsmith was fired by Duke athletics director Joe Alleva just a year into Alleva's tenure after recording only nine wins during his last four seasons, including only three in Atlantic Coast Conference play. In addition, under Goldsmith's tenure, Duke's football program was ordered to pay walk-on kicker, Heather Sue Mercer, $2,000,001 in nominal and punitive damages for its discriminatory treatment of her during her time on the team. A federal jury found that Mercer was afforded less of an opportunity to practice and compete than other 'similarly situated' players (other walk-on kickers). Her allegations also included sexist statements made to her by Goldsmith. (See ''Mercer v. Duke University'', 190 F.3d 643 (4th Cir. 1999). Goldsmith's final coaching job was as the 18th head football coach for

, an

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

school in

Hickory, North Carolina Hickory is a city located primarily in Catawba County, with formal boundaries extending into Burke and Caldwell counties. The city lies in the U.S. state of North Carolina. At the time of the 2020 census, Hickory's population was 43,490. Hickor ...

. Hired on November 28, 2006, Goldsmith arrived at Lenoir-Rhyne fresh off a successful four-year run at Franklin High School in

Franklin, North Carolina Franklin is a town in and the county seat of Macon County, North Carolina, United States. It is situated within the Nantahala National Forest. The population was reported to be 4,175 in the 2020 census, an increase from the total of 3,845 tabul ...

, where he compiled an overall win–loss record of 47–15. Goldsmith retired on May 3, 2011.

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsmith, Fred 1944 births Living people Air Force Falcons football coaches Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Duke Blue Devils football coaches Florida A&M Rattlers football coaches High school football coaches in North Carolina Lenoir–Rhyne Bears football coaches Rice Owls football coaches Slippery Rock football coaches Western Carolina Catamounts football players University of Florida alumni