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Peter Smith, the 2007 Pac-10 and ITA West Regional Coach of the Year, enters his sixth season as head coach of the Trojan men's tennis program. He has compiled a 350-181 (.659) career coaching record and is 80-46 (.635) at USC. Smith was named head coach of the USC men's tennis team in June of 2002 after having guided Pepperdine to conference titles and NCAA Tournament appearances in each of his five years there. Smith became only the third head coach in Trojan tennis history. His 18-year career includes coaching at Pepperdine, Fresno State and Long Beach State. Once at Troy, Smith extended his streak of sending teams to the NCAA Tournament to 12 consecutive seasons, as the Trojans reached the NCAA Second Round in his first season, the semifinals in 2004, and the second round again in 2005. In 2006, USC missed the postseason with an 8-14 record. In 2007, USC reemerged on the NCAA scene, racking up its best program start since 1987 with an 11-0 record on the way to a second-place finish in the Pac-10 (6-1) and a trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals to finish 23-3 overall. It was the biggest turnaround in USC history, and the mark stands out as the fewest losses sustained since USC went 22-3 in 1994, when the Trojans won their 15th NCAA title. Smith is the only men's tennis coach ever to lead four different men's programs to national top-25 rankings and is one of only two coaches to guide three different schools to the NCAA quarterfinals and top-5 national rankings (USC, Pepperdine and Fresno State). Smith enjoyed one of the greatest seasons of his career in 2004, leading USC to the NCAA Semifinals and a No. 4 final ITA ranking while also earning 2004 Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors. That year's Trojan team completed the year with a 23-4 overall record and a 6-1 Pac-10 mark to claim a share of the conference title -- USC's 14th title overall (first since 1994) and the seventh conference championship of his career. In 2002, Smith left Pepperdine following a 25-6 season in Malibu, in which he led the Waves to the NCAA quarterfinals and a final No. 5 national ranking. He earned his fifth straight West Coast Conference Coach of the Year honor and was tabbed the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) West Region Coach of the Year for the second time in the last three years (he also won it in 2000). In five years at Pepperdine (1998-2002), Smith compiled a 118-31 (.792) dual match record and finished in the Top 20 every year. The Waves won the WCC title and advanced to at least the second round of the NCAA Championships each season. He coached eight All-Americans during his tenure in Malibu (Robert Lindstedt, Kelly Gullett, John Hui, Anthony Ross, Robert Kendrick, Stefan Suter, Sebastien Graeff and Al Garland). While at Pepperdine he coach Gullett and Lindstedt to the 1998 NCAA doubles final and Garland to a No. 1 national singles ranking during the 2002 season. Smith spent the previous six seasons (1992-97) as men's tennis head coach at Fresno State, transforming the Bulldogs into a Top 20 program. His dual match record at Fresno State was 102-57 (.642). He led the Bulldogs to their first-ever NCAA tourney in 1994 and coached the program's first-ever All-American (Fredrik Bergh) in 1995. In all, he guided the Bulldogs into the NCAAs in his last four seasons and coached four All-Americans (Gullett, who followed him to Pepperdine, Fredrik Berg, Fredrik Giers and Robert Lindstedt). Berg reached the NCAA singles final in 1996, falling to USC's Cecil Mammiit. Smith enjoyed his greatest success at Fresno State in 1996 when the team won its first Western Athletic Conference title, posted a 23-5 dual-match record (the best in school history) and earned its third-straight NCAA berth with a No. 6 national ranking. That season, he was named ITA Region VII and Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. Smith, who has been named conference coach of the year seven times during his career, was the only men's coach to take two different schools to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Championships in the 1990s -- doing so at Fresno State in 1996 and Pepperdine in 1998. Additionally, Smith was the only men's coach whose teams did not lose a match in NCAA regional play (under the previous championship format). Smith is one of only two active coaches to have been head coach for two players who finished 2005 in the top 350 in the ATP Rankings - former USC star Prakash Amritraj and Pepperdine All-American Robert Kendrick. Smith, 41, earned a bachelor's degree in liberal studies (while coaching the men's tennis team) from Long Beach State in 1987 and was a four-year letter winner for the 49ers. After playing professional tennis for 15 months and competing in such prestigious events as the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, Smith returned to Long Beach State and became the youngest Division I men's tennis head coach at age 23. He served as the 49ers' head coach for four years (1988-91), compiling an overall record of 50-47 (.515). In 1989, Long Beach State posted a 15-11 dual match record and completed the season ranked No. 25 nationally. Smith still loves to compete when his schedule allows him. He won the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship (the oldest tournament in the United States) in 2001, defeating the No. 1-ranked collegiate team of Alex Kim/Geoff Abrams with partner Kelly Gullett. This past November he was crowned National Champion for the second straight year in the Men's 40 division winning the men's singles title at the 2006 USTA National 40s Hard Court Championships to boast back-to-back crowns. He also claimed the doubles title at the 2006 tournament to make it a clean sweep. Smith was born on Aug. 15, 1964. He and his wife, Tammie, have three sons, Tanner (12), Riley (10) and Colter (7). |
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