Chad Smith - Football Coach - Syracuse University Athletics

Chad Smith

Title:
Director of Football Performance
Email:
ksmit188@syr.edu

Chad Smith joined the Syracuse football program in December 2023 to serve as the Director of Football Performance.

He comes to the Orange after serving as the lead performance coach for the Memphis Showboats and Houston Gambles of the USFL for the 2023 season. Previously, Smith served as the assistant director of football player performance at Georgia Tech (2022) and USC (2021).

Additionally, Smith was the Director of Strength and Conditioning at South Alabama for one year after spending eight years in the same position at Florida International. During his time with the Panthers, he oversaw 14 men’s and women’s sports as the Director of Strength and Conditioning. The Panthers’ football team played in a bowl game each of his final three seasons there, including the 2018 season where the program posted its best record ever (9-4).

He joined FIU after a three-year stint with Mississippi State (2009-11), where he worked with football and the tennis programs. The Bulldogs’ football team returned to national prominence in his time there, returning to the AP Poll for the first time in nine years, including a top-15 national ranking to close 2010 after a victory in the Gator Bowl.

Smith was a graduate assistant at Memphis from 2006-09 where he worked with the football program as well as the baseball and softball teams. He also had intern stops at his alma mater, Chatanooga (2005), and South Florida (2006).

He was a three-year letterman at fullback on the Mocs’ football team (2002-04), while he earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise science. He also holds a Master’s degree in human movement sciences from Memphis in 2009.

Smith holds certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association, United States Weightlifting Federation and American Heart Association.