SANTA CLARA, Calif. - With a 1-0 win over UC Davis on Thursday night, Santa Clara women's soccer head coach Jerry Smith moved into second place on the all-time wins list among Division I women's soccer head coaches. The victory gave Smith 571 for his career, breaking a tie with former Connecticut head coach Len Tsantiris and trailing only Anson Dorrance of North Carolina's 934 career victories.
"I have to say thank you to a lot of people," said Smith after his 571st win. "All the players that have played for me in 40 years, all the administrators I've worked with, all the coaches, staff that have worked with me. To Santa Clara University for hiring me in the first place and continuing to rehire me. Santa Clara University does an awesome job of supporting the women's soccer program and that we've been blessed with a lot of great people in our program. There are so many people to thank that I wouldn't know where to start and where to finish in 40 years of coaching. I'm really proud of 571, proud to be second winningest coach in the history of our sport, but credit goes to hundreds and hundreds of people that helped our program with those wins. Thank you to all those people. Go Broncos."
Smith, in his 40th season at the helm of the Broncos, has had nearly unprecedented success in collegiate women's soccer. He is one of just five coaches with multiple National Championships (2001 and 2020) and has led Santa Clara to 12 College Cups. The Broncos have a winning record in 38 of Smith's seasons and have won at least 10 matches 37 times while capturing 14 WCC titles and making the NCAA Tournament 34 times.
In terms of individual success for his players, Smith has coached two Hermann Trophy winners (Mandy Clemens in 1999 and Aly Wagner in 2002) as well as four Honda Award winners (Brandi Chastain in 1990, Wagner in 2001, Leslie Osborne in 2004, and Alex Loera in 2020). He has also seen his players earn All-America nods over 50 times and they have been named All-West Region over 150 times.
Smith has coached the WCC Player of the Year 11 times, the WCC Defender of the Year 11 times, and the WCC Freshman of the Year 14 times. He has also had the WCC Offensive Player of the Year, the WCC Midfielder of the Year, and the WCC Goalkeeper of the Year. Broncos have earned over 250 All-WCC selections under Smith.
His players have also gone on to international success as well. A total of 39 players have represented their country at the highest level of international soccer with 26 for the United States Women's National Team.
Smith has also helped 76 of his players move on the professional ranks with 26 currently active, including seven in the NWSL.
Individually, Smith has been recognized for his coaching many times. He was the NCAA Coach of the Year and the Soccer American Coach of the Year in 2001. Smith is a also four-time NSCAA West Region Coach of the Year and a 10-time WCC Coach of the Year.
Smith has also earned recognition on national and international levels. In March 2000, he was named the U.S. Under-21 National Team coach, a position he resigned in August 2002, after capturing the 2001 Nordic Cup and successfully defending the championship a year later. He has also served on the FIFA Technical Report Team and was the Site Coordinator for Brazil during World Cup 1994. He was also the West Region head coach for the Olympic Development Program.
Smith began his coaching career at his alma mater, Homestead High School in Sunnyvale, Calif., where his boys' teams compiled a 69-29-12 record in seven seasons, including two consecutive league championships. Along with his head coaching responsibilities at Homestead, Smith also served as the assistant coach for Foothill College's men's team from 1982-86 in Los Altos Hills, Calif. He also had a one-year stint as Foothill's head women's coach in 1986. After obtaining his A.S. degree from Foothill in 1981, Smith earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Cal State Hayward in 1986.
