Steve Smith joined the Auburn baseball staff as a pitching coach prior to the 2018 season and recently completed his second season with the program.
Smith came to The Plains with a pedigree that includes 21 years of collegiate head coaching experience and an additional eight years of experience as an assistant coach.
In two seasons under Smith, Auburn's pitching staff has turned in two of its three highest strikeout totals and has registered 12 shutouts, including seven this past season. The Tigers 2018 staff finished in the top 25 in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.67) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.2).
Under Smith's guidance, Casey Mize was named a consensus All-American and First Team All-SEC selection before becoming the first No. 1 overall pick in program history in 2018. Mize was also named the NCBWA District III Co-Player of the Year and a finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award. Tanner Burns was named an All-American in 2019, and the duo turned in the program's only three 100-strikeout seasons since 2000.
Additionally, Burns and Cody Greenhill turned in Freshman All-American campaigns and went a combined 13-7 with a 2.73 ERA in 2018. The duo combined to pitch all nine innings in five wins versus SEC opponents, including twice at No. 1 Florida, and also pitched 8.1 innings in a win against Vanderbilt.
The winningest coach in the history of Baylor Athletics, Smith won 744 games during his 21-year tenure with the Bears. He turned in 16 seasons of 30 or more wins and six campaigns with 40 or more, including a program record 50 wins in 1999. Additionally, the Bears' five winningest seasons came under Smith's guidance.
Smith also served as the head coach for the USA Baseball National Team in 2005 and was the national team's pitching coach in 1998. He was also named a pitching coordinator for the 17U National Team Development Program in 2019.
Smith took his Baylor teams to 13 NCAA Regionals, four Super Regionals and culminated the 2005 season with the program's first berth in the College World Series since 1978. He also claimed a trio of Big 12 Conference Championships, including Baylor's first outright championship in more than 75 years during the 2000 season.
A five-time Big 12 Coach of the Year, Smith was named the 2012 Midwest Region Coach of the Year. He served as the President of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) in 2008 and was inducted into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.
Player development has been Smith's forte as he not only coached 17 All-Americans, but also guided Jason Jennings to the 1999 Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Award and Rotary Smith Award as the best player in college baseball. Jennings also became the first consensus Division I National Player of the Year, and Kelly Shoppach earned the Johnny Bench Award as the top collegiate catcher in 2001.
Smith has had 74 former players selected in the MLB Draft with eight pitchers hearing their names called in the first round. Additionally, 13 of his former players have achieved their dreams of reaching the Big Leagues.
Smith's players also have a history of excelling in the classroom as he has mentored 14 Academic All-Americans, 39 Academic All-District honorees and 159 Academic All-Big 12 selections.
After beginning his playing career as a dual-sport athlete -- quarterback and pitcher -- at Mississippi College from 1979-80, Smith completed his collegiate days as a two-year letterwinner at Baylor from 1982-83 and led the Southwest Conference in ERA (1.72) in 1982. He went on to be selected by the San Francisco Giants in the fifth round of the 1983 MLB Draft and spent the next four seasons in the Giants' organization, making his way up to the AAA level at the end of the 1986 season.
Smith's coaching career began as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M from 1988-89, and he earned his first full-time position as an assistant coach at Mississippi State from 1990-94, where he helped lead the Bulldogs to the 1990 College World Series. He then went on to spend the aforementioned 21 seasons at Baylor from 1995-2015 and most recently served as an assistant coach at Santa Clara University a season ago.
Smith earned a Bachelor of Science in Education at Baylor in 1986 and went on to earn his Master of Business Administration at Texas A&M in 1989.
A native of Gulfport, Miss., Smith and his wife, Melinda, have two sons, Ryan and Case. Ryan is a graduate assistant coach for the Angelo State football team. Case is the Director of Recreation Ministries at First Baptist Church Woodway in Waco, Texas, where he and his wife, Danelle, live.