Colonel Smith joined the Knight staff in 2006. He comes with several years of coaching and playing experience in several sports at various levels. Smith began coaching in the spring of 2007. Prior to coming to Southern Virginia, Smith was very active in coaching. Between football, basketball, baseball and softball, Smith has coached approximately 75 seasons at levels including the United States Marine Corps, high school, church and civic organizations. His teams have won several league championships and two national titles. Smith earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma, where he played one season of football and three years of baseball. Following Oklahoma, Smith served 30 years in the U.S. Marine Corps as a jet carrier, attack pilot and rose to become a squadron commander.
While in the Marine Corps, he served four years on defense
exchange at the U.S. State Department. Smith has remained active in
softball as a player as he participates in senior softball. He has
been a member of 43 world or national championship teams and has
been named to over 15 all-America and all-world teams. Smith has
played on two Virginia teams that have been inducted into regional
hall of fames. One of his California teams was recently inducted
into the National Senior Softball Hall of Fame. Smith has also been
inducted into these halls of fame as a player. While in the
Marines, Smith completed three master’s degrees, including a
master’s of human resources management from Pepperdine, a
master’s of international relations from Salve Regina College
and a master’s of National Defense Issues and Strategic
Policy at the U.S. Naval War College. A widower, Smith married
Carol Oaks, a widow, in October 2006. Between their two families
they have seven children and seven grandchildren.
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