After More than 42 Years, Fred Smith Leaves an Indelible Mark on SHU Athletics

By Doug Goodnough

In more than 30 years of coaching, Fred Smith never needed to use a whistle.

His booming voice, commanding personality and imposing 6-foot, 5-inch frame were more than enough to get the attention of his student-athletes, coaches, referees and anyone else within earshot.

After more than 42 years representing Siena Heights University Athletics as a coach and administrator—including the last 36 as athletic director—Fred Smith retired on June 30, 2019.

That means it will be a little quieter on the Siena Heights University campus.

But his indelible legacy will not be silenced.

His 21-year men’s basketball head coaching career included 527 wins, the most in the institution’s history. During his tenure, Siena Heights was one of the winningest small-school programs in the country. The Saints recorded five 30-win seasons, 12 appearances in the NAIA National Tournament and eight WHAC titles. His 1996-97 squad finished as the NAIA Division II national runners up, losing the title game to Bethel College 95-94.

After being named WHAC Coach of the Year four times, and the NAIA Regional Coach of the Year in 1989, Smith was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 2006. He is the only Siena Heights coach or student-athlete to receive the honor.

The 65-year-old Smith has also overseen unprecedented growth in the SHU athletic department. He was on campus as Siena Heights was just beginning intercollegiate athletics. And he helped usher in a new era of cutting-edge sports to campus, including football, bowling, lacrosse, competitive cheer and dance, and most recently, eSports. Siena Heights currently has some of the finest athletic facilities for an institution its size in the Midwest region.

After being named athletic director in 1983, he was instrumental in the formation of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference—of which Siena Heights is a founding member. He was twice named the WHAC Athletic Director of the Year. In fact, the WHAC renamed its all-sports award the Fred Smith All-Sports Trophy for his contributions to the conference.

In an unprecedented move, the University will honor Smith by being the lone inductee into the SHU Athletic Hall of Fame during Homecoming Weekend 2019, which is also the University’s 100th Anniversary.

Learning on the Job

Smith, an Adrian native who grew up a short distance from the SHU campus and was educated by the Adrian Dominican Sisters at St. Joseph Academy, decided on a different path after he graduated (right) from Adrian High School.

After a short stint at Northwood University, Smith transferred to Adrian College, where he played basketball and earned his bachelor’s degree.

“I just didn’t know what I wanted to do,” said Smith, who got married two weeks after college graduation and immediately started work in his family’s nursery business. “I wanted to coach somehow, but didn’t know how to go about doing it.”

He eventually heard about an open position in the Siena Heights Admissions Office, and decided to apply. On July 19, 1976, he signed his Siena Heights contract, agreeing to an annual salary of $8,000 per year.

“God bless, they put up with me,” said Smith, who admitted he was very inexperienced coming into the position. “I learned on the job.”

A year or so later, his coaching wish came true, taking on the additional duties of Siena Heights head golf coach and assistant basketball coach.

“I thought I had the best job in the world,” he said.

The Building Years

In the early years of Siena Heights’ intercollegiate athletics, Steve Balyo was the athletic director as well as the men’s basketball, baseball and cross country coach. When he left in the summer of 1977, the college approached Smith about becoming the men’s head basketball coach. He declined.

“I’m a kid. I can’t do it,” Smith remembered at the time.

New Athletic Director Orby Moss then called up a young Wisconsin high school basketball coach and offered him the job. Ben Braun was only a year older than Smith, but accepted the job. Braun and Smith, who stayed on as an assistant, became a dynamic duo in building Siena’s fledgling men’s basketball program.

“Ben was a tireless worker,” said Smith of his mentor, who went on to coach at NCAA Division I schools Eastern Michigan, California and Rice. “He could get it out of you. We worked all the time. We were all over recruiting. Everywhere.”

Braun brought a breakneck style of basketball that featured full-court pressure and intense man-to-man defense that appealed to Smith.

“We grew together as coaches,” Smith said of Braun. “We knew that with the athletes we had, we had to press, run and guard people. Ben could get inside your head, and he would drive you. He taught me how to work, how to organize, and that players win.”

Smith was given control of the junior varsity basketball program, where he spent the next five or six years honing his head coaching skills.

“That taught me how to coach,” Smith said.

Of course, he also led the cross country and golf teams to championships. In fact, his 1983 cross country team became the first Siena Heights program to qualify for the NAIA nationals. Those experiences prepared him for a much larger role within the Siena Heights athletic program.

‘Blue-collar Institution’

In 1983, the athletic director position became available, and Smith decided to apply.

Smith served as interim athletic director for a time in 1978 to bridge a gap, and used that experience in making a jump to a college athletic director.

“I was ready because I knew athletics,” said Smith, who also credited his Siena Heights master’s degree in counseling. “It was my life. I learned it was about handling people. I knew the faculty. It was about communicating, how to treat people and how to be organized.”

It also created a bit of an awkward situation: Smith was now Braun’s boss—while still serving as an assistant men’s basketball coach. When Braun left Siena after the 1985 season to take the men’s basketball job at Eastern Michigan, Smith stepped into the head coaching role at Siena.

“I was ready,” Smith said. “We knew what we needed to do. We needed to build the program from the ground up. We needed to have kids who were going to be eligible. And we needed the trust of the faculty.”

Smith said he put an emphasis on recruiting in areas like Detroit, selling his up-tempo, high-intensity style of basketball to recruits. He also put a strong emphasis on developing a junior varsity program, which not only allowed student-athletes to develop on the court at their own pace, but also adjust to the academic demands that needed to be met.

“Freshmen did not play on varsity unless they were eligible,” Smith said. “(We wanted) kids who would thrive at a place like Siena. … You have to make them earn their way into the program. You have to be there for them, not in a way where you’re enabling them, but teaching them to be a man. That’s really what we did.”

And when the Saints started winning championships, the program drew a crowd. In fact, the Fieldhouse routinely drew standing-room-only crowds as Smith’s teams routinely vied for conference championships.

“The community really embraced Siena Heights, and not just basketball,” Smith said of the era of the 1980s and 1990s. “At Siena, we became a blue-collar institution right from the get-go. We loved to be the underdogs. … We were the community’s school.”

The Saints captured three consecutive conference all-sports trophies in the 1990s, and the men’s basketball program led the way. The 1996-97 team went all the way to the NAIA national championship game against top-ranked Bethel (Ind.). In a heartbreaking ending in Boise, Idaho, a potential game-winning layup rolled around the rim and out as time expired, giving Bethel a one-point victory.

“It was hard because we lost,” Smith said of his best chance at winning a national championship. “It hurt. But I was more worried about the kids. You think you’re always going to be back and get a chance to do it again. We were close, but we never did it again.”

Man on Fire

Despite not winning an elusive national championship, a championship mentality was established.

“Championship teams don’t happen to you. You have to deserve them,” Smith said. “To build championships, you have to have those great intangibles. You have to have great loyalty, a combination of fundamentals, certainly good players, belief in each other and a family atmosphere.”

Smith’s coaching legacy is secure. His numerous championship trophies and accolades that fill nearly every inch of his office are the visible proof of the impact he had on his players, colleagues and the Siena community.

To say Smith’s coaching style was “fiery” is probably an understatement. The intensity and passion he was known for as a coach has evolved over the years, and Smith admits that in his younger days he sometimes had a difficult time harnessing his competitive nature.

“I grew up a poor sport,” Smith said. “What I mean by that, is that I wanted to win. Sports meant more to me than anything. We played to win. … We demanded that our kids play hard and to compete. I was loud, that was my problem. But I think I yelled more in the games that didn’t mean anything because I see so many times that teams aren’t ready to play. I knew I pushed the envelope. … Did I realize that I was a little wacky? Yes. It’s a sickness.”

However, as an athletic director, Smith used his vast interpersonal skills and passion for Siena Heights to recruit, hire—and keep—coaches who were like-minded. Current golf coach Al Sandifer was Smith’s right-hand man for years as a basketball assistant, as well as building a championship-level softball program in the 1990s. Former running standout Tim Bauer was installed as the cross country and track and field coach in the 1980s and has become a coaching institution in his own right. They also have become some of his closest friends.

And more recent coaching hires like Scott Oliver (women’s soccer) and Sue Syljebeck (women’s basketball) have provided a sustained excellence and continuity that are the envy of many other small college programs.

“I am proud of that,” Smith said of his coaching staff. “It’s not just winning, it’s the people. They really believe in this place. You can see what they got from being in this tremendous environment where you can be yourself.”

Getting personal

More than four decades of being a college coach and athletic director does take a toll. Managing a department that had about 250 student-athletes 35 years ago has grown exponentially over the years. The Saints currently field more than 20 men’s and women’s sports, and there are currently more than 600 student-athletes on the Adrian campus. And being there for all of those coaches and student-athletes can be a daunting task.

“My kids grew up in the gym,” Smith said of his four children, who are now grown. “Your kids are with you all of the time. You try to make them a part of it. But you make the important things important. I was close to my kids, but there were a lot of late nights. You just do the best you can.”

And when doctors found a mass in his chest in the spring of 1994, Smith had to coach himself through what he called a life-changing event. The mass turned out to be cancer, and 38 radiation and six chemotherapy treatments later, he won the battle. But he was not the same person.

“I think it made me a better person,” said Smith, who continued as a coach and AD through his treatment despite losing 30 pounds. “It made me a more thankful person. It changed my way of thinking. I just brainwashed myself to try to be more positive and live a more positive life when God gives you a second chance. And I think it helped my coaching because I did realize that when we lost, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.”

Along with close colleagues on the athletic side, Smith has built strong bonds with others around the University and community. Those bonds are one of the reasons he stayed at Siena Heights.

“I had (coaching) opportunities to leave, but I didn’t,” Smith said. “I love Siena Heights because my best friends were there. And the (Adrian Dominican) Sisters helped me grow up. They were the ones who helped me become a man who has competence, purpose and ethics. It is a special, special place.”

What’s next?

Smith knew it was time to give up coaching in 2006 so he could focus on growing the Siena Heights athletic program. Now, he knows it’s time for him to step back as a full-time athletic director as he moves into the next chapter of his life.

“I’m proud of our players and the many friends that I’ve made,” he said. “Seeing what we’ve done in athletics, I’ve always believed that coaches and ADs are like quarterbacks: they get too much credit and get too much blame. To see now what it means to our community and what the Siena way is and the Dominican way is, and to be a part of that, means a lot.”

Smith will continue to assist athletics and the University in a limited role over the next few months to help in the transition. Beginning July 1, current Associate Athletic Director and head women’s basketball coach Sue Syljebeck will become the interim athletic director until the University makes a decision on the long-term future of the position.

He said he is ready for the next challenge.

“I’m going to miss it, but I want to be around,” said Smith, who plans on increasing his time on the golf course, as well as traveling, enjoying his grandchildren and attending University of Michigan football games. “I had the greatest job in the world, to impact young peoples’ lives. I would have done this for nothing.”