HOUSTON – The startup Houston Baptist University football program has hired Scott Smith as associate head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, head coach Vic Shealy announced Wednesday.
 
“I've had the honor of knowing Scott for quite some time and he's a great coach and a great man,” Shealy said. “Our offense will be in tremendously talented hands, so our student-athletes will be coached and cared for by a person who will allow them to enjoy the game and success in all areas, not just football.”
 
“I'm really excited about coming to HBU and helping start up a football program,” Smith said. “I've been in Texas all my life, except for one year, so I appreciate the opportunity to stay in the state and the game as we know it here in Texas.
 
Smith, 54, was a four-year letterwinner at Baylor from 1977-81. During his freshman season, he went 3-0 as a quarterback, then redshirted the following year. He played strong safety from 1979-81 as the Bears appeared in the 1979 Peach Bowl, then won the 1980 Southwest Conference championship and appeared in the 1981 Cotton Bowl.
 
After he graduated from Baylor, Smith's coaching career began at Howard Payne University in 1981, then he coached the defensive backs at North Texas in 1982. From 1983-84, he coached the secondary at his alma mater, Highland Park High School, where he was captain of the football and baseball teams and was an all-district, all-metro and all-Greater Dallas quarterback in 1977. He took his first head coaching position at Garland High School in 1985 and was named District 9-5A and Dallas-Ft. Worth Coach of the Year in 1987.
 
Smith then returned to the college ranks, coaching wide receivers then running backs at SMU from 1988-89, the secondary at Baylor from 1990-92 and the linebackers at Arkansas in 1993. Baylor's secondary was ranked 16^th in the nation in 1990 and 23^rd in 1992. He became athletic director and head coach at Duncanville High School, then at Highland Park, where he posted a 35-7 record from 1996-98 and made three-straight playoff appearances.
 
Smith's second stint at Baylor was from 1999-2002, when he held the position of assistant head coach and also coached the special teams and tight ends. He was head coach at Odessa Permian from 2003-04 and has been the head coach at Rockwall High School for the last seven years, making three playoff appearances.
 
“Scott is a very bright guy with a great reputation throughout the state of Texas, having coached some of the state's best programs,” Shealy said. “He will be able to walk into many corners of the state, have a good understanding where players are and the culture of the state. His relationships with many high school coaches will help him a lot, because he will be able to communicate our vision and the coaches will trust his intentions.”
 
Smith earned a bachelor of science degree in education from Baylor in 1981, then a master of science degree in education in 1982. He and his wife, Kelly, have two sons, Shea and Braden.