Paul Smith enters his eighth season with the Toledo women’s soccer program. He spent his first four years as an assistant coach for the Rockets before being promoted to associate head coach in 2018.
During his tenure, Smith has helped build the Rockets into a championship squad. He has coached seven MAC All-Freshman Team selections, 10 first- and second-team All-MAC honorees and one Freshman of the Year.
Smith helped lead the 2017 season when Toledo captured its first Mid-American Conference championship since 2011. Toledo posted a 12-8-3 overall record and a 6-3-2 league mark en route to its league-best fifth NCAA Championship appearance. In the MAC Tournament, Toledo downed Western Michigan at home in the quarterfinals by a 2-1 margin before posting a pair of 2-1 (OT) triumphs over Ball State and Bowling Green to win the title.
Smith helped mentor 2017 Toledo graduate Isa Echeverri, who finished her career as one of the more decorated players to come through the program. Echeverri garnered two first-team all-conference selections and two all-region honors as a Rocket. Echeverri went on to compete for Colombia in the World Cup, played for Sevilla FC in Spain, and currently plays for CF Monterrey in Columbia. Smith was also a mentor for 2018 graduate Hannah Scafaria, who plays for Puerto Rock Sol FC.
Smith has played a pivotal part in the academic success of Toledo. The Rockets set the all-time team record GPA in the spring 2020 semester with a 3.834. The Rockets landed a league-best and school-record 16 student-athletes on the Academic All-MAC team in 2019. In the fall of 2016, the team had an athletic department-high 3.679 team GPA and 14 student-athletes making academic all-conference in 2015.
Smith has a long history with head coach TJ Buchholz. The two worked together for three years with the men’s soccer program at NAIA member Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa from 2006-07. Smith spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at Northwestern College (2006-14), where the Red Raiders accumulated an 86-75-12 record. Smith helped lead the team to a 2007 regional championship and a national tournament appearance. The Red Raiders experienced four-consecutive 10-win seasons, a first in the program’s history during Smith’s tenure.
Smith played a major role in planning and implementing training, recruiting, scouting, and preparing strategy for opponents during his time at Northwestern College. He had the opportunity to work with six All-Americans, 17 NAIA Scholar-Athletes and 30 all-conference recipients over the course of nine years.
Smith and his wife Jennie, who also graduated from Northwestern College, have three children: Mullin, Annika and Amira.
