Eddie Smith - Head Coach - Staff Directory - University of Washington Athletics

Staff Directory

Eddie Smith

Title:
Head Coach
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In his first season on Montlake, Eddie Smith led the Huskies to a season that captured the essence of the bright future for UW Baseball. The 2025 Diamond Dawgs improved with 10 more wins while finishing with a top 75 RPI for just the second time since 2016.

Picked to finish 17^th in the Big Ten preseason poll, the Huskies finished fifth in their inaugural Big Ten campaign and reached the conference tournament. The team made improvements in nearly every statistical category from the previous season despite playing a significantly more challenging strength of schedule.

Player development has been the hallmark of Smith’s coaching career. He has coached 19 players who have gone on to play in the Major Leagues including All Star and World Series Champion Chris Taylor as well as rookie phenom Dylan Crews.

While also serving as the team’s hitting coach, every offense Smith has coached since 2018 has improved its slugging percentage and home runs from the previous season. Nearly every position player on LSU’s 2023 and 2025 National Championship teams was recruited and/or coached by Smith during his time as the hitting coach at LSU.

In 2024, the Utah Valley offense led the WAC in every major category and became just the second offense in NCAA history to hit 100+ home runs, steal 75+ bases, walk 270+ times, and get hit by 140+ pitches.

In 2019, the Tulane offense led by Smith rewrote the American Athletic Conference record books with new records in numerous offensive categories including home runs, OPS, slugging percentage, and runs per game.

Winning has highlighted every step of Smith’s coaching career. He took over a Utah Valley program that went 10-47 in 2021 and lost more games than any college baseball program in the country from 2017-2021. By 2023, year two of Smith’s tenure, UVU played for the conference championship and won 34 games, the largest turnaround in Division 1 baseball from 2021 to 2023.

At Lower Columbia College, Smith garnered National Coach of the Year honors leading the Red Devils to the NWAC Championship in 2015 and finishing with a No. 10 national ranking. The program won the West Region title three consecutive seasons from 2015 to 2017 and followed up with another NWAC championship in 2017.

In total, Smith has been to eight NCAA Tournaments and four Super Regionals. He reached the College World Series in Omaha while coaching at Virginia in 2009 and 2011.

A native of Olympia, Washington, Smith graduated from North Thurston High School where he led the Rams to the 2002 WIAA State Championship with a perfect 24-0 record. That year, he was named the Washington Scholar Athlete of the Year by the Washington High School Baseball Coaches Association.

Smith went on to play two seasons at Centralia Community College. In 2004, the team set a program record for wins and Smith was inducted in to the school’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2012. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2006 with a 3.8 college GPA and a degree in Spanish. In two years as an infielder at Notre Dame, the Irish advanced to the NCAA Tournament and won the Big East Championship both seasons.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

“This is an excellent hire for the University of Washington. Eddie Smith has a proven track record at all levels of college baseball both as an assistant and head coach. He has been successful at every school he has coached at in his career. I was fortunate to work with Eddie for five years at Virginia, and witnessed first-hand his ability to recruit, develop talent, and connect with his players. Coach Smith is a great leader of young men and clearly understands how to build and develop an elite-level college baseball program.”

Brian O'Connor
Head Coach, Virginia
2015 National Champion

"I'm so happy for Eddie as I know this is his dream job. He's very proud of his Washington roots and takes a great deal of pride in the baseball in the area. UW is going to realize just how fortunate they are to have such a great coach and wonderful person leading their program. I had Eddie as a player at Notre Dame and as an assistant coach at LSU. He is one of the most knowledgeable baseball people I know. And he's one of the best human beings I know. This is one of those situations that is a match made to perfection. I couldn't be more proud of Eddie and happy for him."

Paul Mainieri
Head Coach, LSU & South Carolina
NCAA Active Wins Leader, 2009 National Champion

”Working with coach Smith my freshman year in college was a great opportunity that I had and it’s something that I will remember for the rest of my career. The energy and attitude that he brought every single day to the field molded our team into one of the best physically and mentally prepared teams in the country. I think the best thing that I got out of my freshman year when working with him was how to ‘flip the switch’ when arriving to the field. Coach Smith put hours of effort into preparation for us players to have the best opportunity to win every game.”

Dylan Crews
Washington Nationals
2023 Golden Spikes Award Winner, No. 2 Overall MLB Draft Pick