Jodie Smith enters his fifth season as the head coach of the Alabama State University soccer program. He is coming off a season which saw the Lady Hornets reach new heights on the soccer field, with a tie for second in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Eastern Division, and the team’s first-ever appearance in the SWAC Tournament semifinals after an upset over Texas Southern in the first round of the tournament.
Smith led the Lady Hornets to a school-record six wins overall and a 4 wins against conference teams during the regular season. It is the most conference wins in the eight-year history of the program.
Smith enters his 15th season overall as a head coach. He started his head coaching career at Georgia State University in 1995. He spent five seasons overseeing the Panthers program. He led the team to the NCAA Tournament in 1997 with an 18-2 record and was named the Trans Atlantic Athletic Conference (TAAC) Coach of the Year.
He moved on to Mercer University where he spent five years as the Bears head coach. While at Mercer he had two First Team All-Conference performers and had one player named to the All-Freshman team.
Smith spent the 2005-06 as assistant coach at cross-town NAIA institution Auburn University-Montgomery. During his two seasons there the Lady Senators went 29-14-2 and won two conference crowns going 18-3 in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) action during the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
Over the course of Smith’s head coaching career, he has coached an All-America player and had 36 players named to their respective All-Conference teams. One of his players at Georgia State was named the TAAC Player of the Year and another player was named the TAAC Tournament Most Valuable Player.
He had a player at Mercer University named the A-Sun Freshman of the Year and has seen over 40 of his players named Academic All-Conference.
Smith graduated from Louisiana State University (LSU) in 1985. He received his degree in sociology.
Smith and his wife Tracy live in Montgomery.
