South Carolina native and Presbyterian College veteran Matt Smith was formally hired as the second-ever head coach of the Blue Hose women's soccer program on December 27, 2023. He approaches his second year in the role for the 2025 campaign, following a fantastic debut season where he led PC to numerous Division I era firsts. His all-time head coaching record sits at 87-44-15.
A former assistant under previous PC coach Brian Purcell – who retired from Presbyterian after three-plus decades as the program’s lone coach – Smith brings a lofty resume with him in his return to Clinton, including a seven-year stint as the head coach at Limestone and stops as an assistant at Big 12 institutions Baylor and Kansas State over a seven-season period.
His teams have achieved 15 postseason appearances, three conference tournament championships and a pair of regular season crowns, and while at Baylor, back-to-back trips to the National Quarterfinal round of the NCAA tourney.
In the 2024 season (Smith's first head coaching gig in eight years), the Blue Hose made a swift turnaround and ended a five-year postseason drought. After gaining a four-match winning streak in non-conference play - the school's longest win streak since 2018 - PC finished the fall with five shutouts and seven overall victories. Their five clean sheets were the most in 11 seasons, leading the Big South in goals-against average (1.15) and save percentage (.837).
Presbyterian knocked off the #5 seed Longwood in the conference tournament quarterfinals, the program's first postseason victory since turning to the Division I level in the late 2000's. They did so after turning another shutout in 110 minutes and winning a 4-2 penalty-kick shootout.
Under Smith's watch, a program-record five individuals were included on the All-Big South lineup: Sloan Spees (second team), Ella Williams (second team), Gwen Keiser (second team), Kelly Hall (honorable mention), and Cassidy Oldham (freshman team). Additionally, Hall and defender Lyla Chadd were named to the Big South All-Tournament team.
Smith has dominated the Palmetto State over his near-decade as a head coach, winning 34 matches over schools from the state of South Carolina.
PC was also elite in the classroom during Smith's inaugural season at the helm, with 26 of his players being named to the Big South Presidential Honor Roll and nine of them earning a perfect 4.0 GPA. That was the second-highest number of 4.0's among any team in any sport around the league for the 2024-25 academic year.
Kelly Hall was given the George A. Christenberry Award for academic excellence in 2025 (an honor that only one student-athlete per sport receives in the Big South), while six of Smith's players were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team. The average GPA for the entire women's soccer team was 3.80 in Smith's first year as the Blue Hose head coach.
Smith still holds the distinction as Limestone’s all-time winningest coach (80-38-10), part of 182 overall victories since starting his coaching career in 2005 as an assistant.
Smith was named the 2016 Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year while at Limestone. He also gained recognition during his time at Baylor, part of the 2018 United Soccer Coaches’ Association Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year.
THE SMITH FILE
Career Head Coaching Record: 87-44-15 (.647, eight seasons)
Career Coaching Record (Head & Assistant): 182-144-42 (.552, 20 seasons)
Assistant Coach/GK Coach, Kansas State: 9-22-6 (.324, two seasons)
Assistant Coach/GK Coach, Baylor: 56-30-15 (.629, five seasons)
Head Coach, Limestone: 80-38-10 (.664, seven seasons)
Assistant Coach, Presbyterian: 30-48-6 (.393, five seasons)
SMITH’S TROPHY CASE
2018 United Soccer Coaches’ Association Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year – Baylor
Two-time NCAA Tournament Elite Eight (2017 & 2018) – Baylor
Big 12 Regular Season Championship (2018) – Baylor
Big 12 Tournament Championship (2017) – Baylor
2016 Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year – Limestone
Two-time NCAA Division II Tournament (2015 & 2016) – Limestone
Two-time Conference Carolinas Tournament Championship (2015 & 2016) – Limestone
Conference Carolinas Regular Season Championship (2016) – Limestone
KANSAS STATE (2022-23)
Smith spent two campaigns at Kansas State in his last job before returning to PC, where he aided the Wildcats to their first-ever Big 12 Tournament berth as a program that was formed in 2016. In Manhattan, he was responsible for working with K-State’s goalkeepers while preparing the team’s defensive game plan.
He directed back-to-back goalies (Alaina Werremeyer and Murphy Sheaff) to the third and fourth-lowest goals-allowed average in program history respectively. During his first go-around with the Wildcats in 2022, the squad conceded just 24 scores while putting together five shutouts (both second-place in the school record book).
Smith’s debut team at KSU accomplished a Wildcat-high 22 scoreless halves, giving up the lowest shot-per-game total in the team’s history (12.5).
BAYLOR (2017-21)
His earlier gig as a goalkeeping assistant for Baylor provided instant success in a tenure that lasted from 2017-21. The Bears wrangled in 35 victories over his first two seasons alone, embarking on consecutive Elite Eight voyages thanks to six combined W’s in the NCAA Tournament.
Smith mentored Jennifer Wandt to All-Big 12 and All-Region selections as she climbed the Baylor record book, setting a new program-best for wins by a keeper while also establishing a new benchmark for the most single-season and career shutouts of any player to come through the program. Wandt gathered the third-most saves of any Bear all-time, one of 13 all-conference honorees to grace the squad across Smith’s occupation in Waco.
Working under head coach Paul Jobson, a Baylor athlete was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week 10 times while Smith was overseeing that area of the field.
His inaugural year with the Bears (2017) ended with a magical postseason chapter, finishing fifth in the league before going on to dethrone three straight higher seeds on their way to the conference tournament trophy and an automatic entrance to the national field of 64.
Baylor’s newsworthy run featured overtime wins against Texas and TCU, not to mention a 3-0 drubbing over top seed Oklahoma State in the Semi’s. They’d keep the magic intact by gaining NCAA Tournament triumphs over Rice and Southern Cal – the latter coming via PK’s – and authoring an overtime W against Notre Dame in the Sweet Sixteen.
Smith’s Bears channeled that momentum towards a 20-win trek in the 2018 season, defiantly claiming the Big 12 regular season medal and picking up an at-large ticket to the big dance. There, they’d take down Abilene Christian, Vanderbilt, and Virginia to repeat as Elite Eight qualifiers.
LIMESTONE (2010-16)
Smith received his first head coaching opportunity in Gaffney after getting his feet wet with the Blue Hose, guiding Limestone to unprecedented highs and seven postseason trips in as many years with the program.
Limestone had only mustered four winning seasons in the 20 years prior to Smith’s arrival, where he’d immediately right the ship and bring the Saints 10 victories or better in five different seasons.
Holding a .664 win percentage during his spell as the HC (2010-16), Smith helped Limestone acquire a new program-record for most W’s in a sole year on three separate occasions. This included 34 victories in his final two seasons alone, where he brought the Saints to consecutive Conference Carolinas tournament titles and a regular season championship to boot.
After finishing in second-place four times, Smith’s 2016 club reached never-before-seen highs by composing a 17-match win streak that ended in an 18-2 final mark (statistically the greatest year in LU history).
Running away with the Conference Carolinas regular season and tournament trophies, Smith was tabbed as the league’s Coach of the Year after administering his second-straight automatic bid to the NCAA Division II bracket.
The first of those tickets came in 2015 when the Saints recorded an eight-match string of W’s right out of the gates on their way to a 16-win trek. They’d publish three shutouts in a row in the postseason to reach the school’s first-ever CC tourney prize, punctuated by a championship round triumph over number one seed Belmont Abbey.
Altogether, Smith coached four All-Americans, 38 All-Conference recipients, and 19 All-Southeast Region performers throughout his lucrative tenure in Gaffney.
Limestone won the Conference Carolinas Player of the Year award four times while Smith roamed the sideline, including two Defensive Player of the Year honors.
His squads enjoyed tremendous success in the classroom as well, winning three NSCAA team academic awards. Smith oversaw the first player in school history to be named NSCAA Scholar All-America in his penultimate campaign in the Palmetto State.
PRESBYTERIAN (2005-09)
Matt was an instrumental figure in maneuvering Presbyterian to the Division I stage after spending his first two assistant-coaching seasons affiliated with the South Atlantic Conference. PC wrapped up their final year as a D-II school by taking down second-seeded Tusculum in the Quarterfinal matchup of the SAC Tournament in 2006 (a 1-0 shutout where the Blue Hose racked up 11 saves).
Smith and Purcell closed the program’s first Big South campaign in ’07 with a season-ending three-match winning streak, getting the better of VMI, High Point, and Radford by an added margin of 6-1.
PLAYING CAREER
Before opening the book on what’s already been a tremendous coaching course, Smith played at Nashville-based Trevecca Nazarene University where he was chosen for TransSouth All-Freshman status. He’d spend his final two seasons of eligibility at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee.
PERSONAL
Smith is a native of Columbia, S.C., earning a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of South Carolina in 2009.
He is a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), displaying a United Soccer Coaches Advanced National Diploma and Goalkeeping Diploma.
Additionally, Matt has coached with the South Carolina Olympic Development Program and Columbia United Football Club. He holds an NSCAA National and State goalkeeping license.
Smith’s connections to Presbyterian run even deeper than the early days of his own coaching career. He is married to Heather Smith ’94, a PC alumna who played under and later coached alongside Purcell in the mid-90’s.
Heather’s sister, Robyn, was also a former Blue Hose women’s soccer student-athlete who suited up from 1998-2002, part of 36 combined wins over her final three seasons.
