Wagner College Athletics

Del Smith, who boasts 15 years of coaching experience, including three seasons at Wagner and, most recently, three seasons as the head coach at West Virginia Wesleyan College (NCAA DII), enters his second season as the Seahawks' defensive coordinator.

During his first season as Wagner's defensive playcaller, Smith coached the most First Team All-NEC selections of any team in the conference on the defensive side of the ball in All-American linebacker Cam Gill, defensive lineman Chris Williams, linebacker Santoni Graham along with second team selection Tevaughn Grant.

Under Smith, Gill and Williams became the first duo of NEC players and first defensive players ever to suit up in the East-West Shrine Bowl, while Gill repeated as the NEC Defensive Player of the Year. Both Gill and Williams signed NFL contracts following the 2019 season, as Gill signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while Williams inked a deal with the Indianapolis Colts.

Statistically, Smith led one of the nation's best defenses in 2019, as the Seahawks ranked 18th nationally in total defense, 22nd in passing defense, 36th in rushing defense, and 49th in the nation in scoring defense, improving by more than 35 spots in each category compared to the 2018 season.
 
No stranger to Grymes Hill, Smith coached the Wagner linebackers and assisted with the special teams units during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. During the 2007 season, the Seahawks' stingy defense finished 6th in the nation and 1st in the NEC in scoring defense, yielding just 16.1 points per game.
 
Over the last three seasons at West Virginia Wesleyan, Smith guided a program turnaround which was impressive on multiple fronts. In 2016, Smith inherited a 2-8 football team with an average margin of defeat of 32 points per game. In just his second year at the helm, Smith led the Bobcats to their highest Mountain East Conference (MEC) finish since the inception of the league, a fourth-place showing (out of 11 teams), two spots higher than they were was picked in the pre-season poll. Most notable was Wesleyan's win over Notre Dame (OH), the eight-ranked team in Super Region 1.
 
"Del has a very good football mind and has done a lot of great things in his career, particularly on the defensive side of the ball," said Houghtaling, who will enter his fifth season at the helm of the Wagner program in 2019. "It's always great to add someone to your staff who has head coaching experience. When you add to that, the fact that Del and I coached together here at Wagner years ago, that makes his coming on board even more exciting."
 
Since taking the reins of Wesleyan in 2016, the Bobcats' statistical improvement under Smith's guidance was significant on both the national and conference level.
 
In addition, during Smith's three-year tenure, a host of Bobcats received conference and national recognition. In total, 16 West Virginia Wesleyan players received All-Conference recognition in the Mountain East. Smith mentored the conference leader in sacks, interceptions, all-purpose yardage, rushing yards, and fumble recoveries.
 
Senior defensive end Kevin Pharoan led the MEC in sacks and was a Cliff Harris Award finalist in 2016. Senior running back Michael Anderson was recognized as Mountain East Conference Offensive Player of the Year, AFCA 1st Team All-American, Don Hanson 3rd Team All-America, D2Football.com All-American, 1st Team All Super Region 1 and 1st Team Mountain East Conference.
 
Prior to his arrival at WVWC, Coach Smith was the defensive coordinator at Bridgewater College in Virginia (NCAA Division III). During the 2015 season, Smith's defense led the competitive Old Dominion Athletic Conference in passing defense yielding just 174.8 yards per game and pass efficiency defense at 116.1.
 
Smith spent three years as the head football coach of Bishop O'Connell High School in the nationally recognized and competitive Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.
 
During his tenure, Smith led the Knights to their first three-year stretch without a losing season in more than four decades. Coach Smith was recognized for the turnaround in 2012-13 as he was awarded Washington Catholic Athletic Conference and Arlington County coach of the year honors. Over a three year period, Smith placed over 16 student-athletes on college rosters and managed the schools strength and conditioning program.
 
In 2010, Coach Smith was the linebackers coach and special team's coordinator at Bridgewater College. During the 2010 season, Coach Smith's kickoff return unit finished 3rd nation in return yardage averaging 25.37 yards per return. Overall, the special teams units blocked nine kicks.
 
From 2008-10, Coach Smith was the head football coach at Blue Ridge School outside of Charlottesville, VA. In 2009-10, Smith led the Barons to their first state championship game appearance in more than 15 years. Smith was recognized in 2009 as the Virginia Independent and Old Dominion Football Conference coach of the year for his efforts. Prior to his three-year stint at Wagner (2006-08), he began his career as the Bobcats' linebackers coach in 2005,
 
Smith, is a 2005 graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan where he was four-year member of the football program and a member of the consecutive conference championship teams in 2002 and 2003. Before enrolling at West Virginia Wesleyan, Smith was a 2001 graduate of Benedictine College Preparatory School in Richmond, VA, where he was a member of the 2001 State Championship teams in both football and baseball.
 
In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Smith is the Director of Football for Soldiers to Sidelines. STS is a not-for-profit organization that trains both active duty and retired military personal in coaching strategies and techniques with an end goal of placing them in youth and high school programs as assistant coaches. In 2020, Smith earned his MBA from Wagner College.
 
Smith resides in Staten Island with his wife Ashley.