Football
- Title:
- Assistant Director of Football Sports Performance
- Email:
- smithkei@usc.edu
Chad Smith was named an assistant strength and conditioning coach in January of 2021.
Smith, 39, came to USC after spending 2020 as the director of football strength and conditioning at South Alabama.
Before that, he was the director of strength and conditioning at Florida International for 7 years (2013-19), overseeing 14 men’s and women’s sports. The Panthers’ football team went 8-5 in 2017 and 9-4 in 2018 and played in a bowl game in his final 3 seasons.
He was an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Mississippi State for 3 years (2009-11), working with the football and men’s and women’s tennis and track teams. The Bulldogs’ football team was 9-4 in 2010, including a win in the Gator Bowl, and finished with a No. 15 AP ranking.
He was a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at Memphis for 3 years (2006-08), working with the football, baseball and softball programs.
In 2005, he was a strength and conditioning intern at Chattanooga, his alma mater. He also interned at South Florida.
He was a 3-year (2002-04) letterman fullback on Chattanooga’s football team.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise science in 2006 from Chattanooga and a master’s degree in human movement sciences from Memphis in 2009.
He holds certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association, United States Weightlifting Federation and American Red Cross.
He prepped at Bradley Central High in Cleveland (Tenn.).
He was born on June 15, 1981.
