Appalachian State Hires Smith As Coach
Appalachian State announced Thursday it has hired Kermit Smith to be its head coach. Smith comes to Appalachian State after spending the past seven years as head coach at Lander (S.C.), a Division II school.
In a statement, Smith said he was looking forward to beginning his tenure at Appalachian State.
“Mountaineer baseball provides huge potential for success with their facilities and resources and we will work diligently to make App State an elite program in the Sun Belt and the country,” Smith said. “My coaching philosophy shares equal emphasis on recruitment as well as the development of players.”
Smith has been a head coach in Division II for 15 years—seven at Lander and eight at Belmont Abbey (N.C.). He is the winningest coach in program history at both schools and led both to their first appearance in the College World Series.
This spring, Smith guided Lander to a 44-16 record and went 2-2 in the CWS, falling one win shy of reaching the finals. He went 244-134 in his seven seasons at Lander.
Smith graduated from Pfeiffer (N.C.) in 2000 and began his coaching career as an assistant at Belmont Abbey the next season. After one year he was promoted to head coach.
At Appalachian State, Smith replaces Billy Jones, who was fired after going 18-36 and finishing in last place in the Sun Belt Conference this season.
| 2016 COACHING CHANGES | ||
| School | Departures | Arrivals |
| Alabama | Mitch Gaspard | Greg Goff |
| Alabama State | Mervyl Melendez | Jose Vazquez |
| Appalachian State | Billy Jones | Kermit Smith |
| Army | Matt Reid | Jim Foster |
| Butler | Steve Farley | Dave Schrage |
| Central Florida | Terry Rooney | Greg Lovelady |
| Florida International | Turtle Thomas | Mervyl Melendez |
| Furman | Ron Smith | Brett Harker |
| Jacksonville | Tim Montez | Chris Hayes |
| Kentucky | Gary Henderson | Nick Mingione |
| Lamar | Jim Gilligan (ret.) | Will Davis |
| Liberty | Jim Toman | |
| Louisiana Tech | Greg Goff | Lane Burroughs |
| Missouri | Tim Jamieson | Steve Bieser |
| Nebraska-Omaha | Bob Herold | |
| Northwestern State | Lane Burroughs | Bobby Barbier |
| Oakland | John Musachio | Jacke Heale, Colin Kaline |
| Purdue | Doug Schreiber | Mark Wasikowski |
| San Jose State | Dave Nakama | Jason Hawkins |
| South Dakota State | Dave Schrage | |
| SIU-Edwardsville | Tony Stoecklin | Sean Lyons |
| Southeast Missouri State | Steve Bieser | |
| Texas | Augie Garrido | David Pierce |
| Tulane | David Pierce | Travis Jewett |
| Villanova | Joe Godri | Kevin Mulvey |
| Wright State | Greg Lovelady | Jeff Mercer |
| Youngstown State | Steve Gillispie | Dan Bertolini |
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