Dr. Connor Smith

Title

Vice President and Director of Athletics
Phone

214-333-5324
Twitter

ConnorSmith_DBU

Welcome Message from Dr. Connor Smith

DBU and Patriot Athletics announced Dr. Connor B. Smith as the program's Vice President and Director of Athletics in November of 2022. Smith, who has served as the Director of Athletics for Dallas Baptist University since June of 2014, has guided the Patriots to unprecedented competitive success while also enhancing the academic performance of the university's 25 sport programs.

During Smith's tenure as the program's Director of Athletics, DBU won their first NCAA Division II National Championship when the women's golf team captured a national title in 2021. The Patriots have also won 45 conference championships, advanced to seven NCAA Division I Regional appearances in baseball, including one Super Regional appearance in 2021, 21 NCAA Division II National Championship appearances, and one NCAA DII Final Four appearance in women's soccer. Additionally, the DBU Cheer and Dance programs both captured back-to-back National Championships (NCA and NDA) during the 2022 competitive season. The 2021 National Championship victories for Cheer and Patriettes were the first in program history for both squads.

Smith and DBU Athletics capped off a historic Fall 2022 semester where the Patriots saw two Lone Star Conference championships, two LSC runner-up finishes, and three teams earning NCAA Tournament berths. Additionally, both Women's Golf and Women's Soccer held No. 1 national rankings, while Women's Cross Country earned their highest national ranking in program history at No. 7. Lady Patriot Volleyball earned several top-25 votes throughout the season for the first-time in program history. The Patriot Baseball program will begin the 2023 season as one of only six NCAA Division I baseball programs in the country to reach a NCAA Regional in eight consecutive seasons (others include Florida, Oklahoma State, LSU, Florida State, and Vanderbilt).

At the conclusion of the spring 2022 semester, DBU Athletics earned a 3.4 cumulative grade point average across each of the NCAA varsity athletics programs, which marks as the second highest average GPA in department history. A few of the additional academic honors for DBU Athletics during Smith's tenure as Director of Athletics include: Baseball sets program record for NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR); Women's Academic Award of Excellence; NCAA President's Award of Excellence for an Academic Success Rate of 90% (earned in back-to-back years); Heartland Academic Award of Excellence.

Additionally, Smith and the Patriots launched Patriots Prepared during the 2019-2020 academic year which prepares and equips student-athletes for life and their professional careers after graduation. Furthermore, Patriots Prepared helps provide networking opportunities for internships, employment, and aids with NIL education for DBU student-athletes.

Under Smith's leadership, Patriot Athletics has experienced unprecedented growth in revenue generation, fundraising, and corporate sponsorships. In March of 2019, Smith and DBU Athletics launched the Patriot Athletic Fund, the departments first-ever annual fund and department-wide booster program to support and advance all 25 intercollegiate athletics programs. During Smith's first year as athletic director, Patriot Baseball introduced a new booster fund program called the Dugout Club with the goal to advance the University's sole NCAA Division I program. Since it's inception, the Dugout Club has experienced consistent growth and membership for the university's only Division I program.

Smith has played an integral role in the development and completion of several capital campaign projects and facility renovations during his time with Patriot Athletics, including: Patriot Golf Indoor Training Facility (2022), Baseball Player Development Phase I (2021); Burg Center Video Board project (2021); Volleyball Locker Room and Coaches' Offices renovation (2020): Esports Facility (2020); Patriot Golf Outdoor Practice Facility (2019); Horner Ballpark Video Board (2018); Patriot Soccer Field renovation (2018); Fitness Center expansion and renovation (2017); Joan and Andy Horner Ballpark Field Renovation (2015); Patriot Tennis Pavilion (2016); Sedwick Soccer Fieldhouse and Grandstands (2014); Joan and Andy Horner Ballpark (2013): Athletic Training Center (2013).

Growth has been a constant theme under Smith's leadership as DBU Athletics has continued to provide new opportunities for student-athletes through new sport additions. Since 2014, the Patriots have added six new sport programs and have increased the total number of student-athletes from 301 student-athletes to 449.

During the 2016-2017 academic year, Smith and the Patriots introduced a new theme, focus, and foundational pillars called Champions 4 Christ. Through this initiative, DBU Athletics staff, coaches, and student-athletes strive to advance Christ-centered championship athletics through: 1) Academic Excellence; 2) Athletics Success; 3) Community Engagement; 4) Spiritual and Leadership Development.

With the ever-changing landscape of collegiate athletics, Smith and the Patriots have experienced exponential growth across all social media platforms, as well as unprecedented growth and viewership with the department's sports broadcasting and streaming platform, the Patriot Broadcasting Network. Other accomplishments for the Patriots during Smith's tenure include the first-ever mobile fan experience app for Patriot fans and supporters on the Apple app store of Google Play; the first-ever television agreement with FOX Sports Southwest to televise five of DBU Baseball's home matchups at Horner Ballpark on FOX Sports Southwest, FOX Sports Southwest+, and the FOX Sports GO app (10+ million households nationwide annually); a multi-game TV agreement with Bally Sports Southwest to televise several DBU Baseball home games; a full DBU Athletics rebranding project which produced three new athletics marks; the launch of a new DBU Athletics sports camps website DBUcamps.com in 2020; a multi-year agreement with brand management and licensing partner IMG College Licensing (IMGCL); the first-ever athletics ticketing platform and website, DBUTickets.com.

Smith is no stranger to conference realignment and has guided the Patriots through two separate conference transitions. Patriot Baseball accepted an invitation as an affiliate member in Conference USA and will begin their first season of competition in 2023, and the Patriots' NCAA Division II programs successfully transitioned to the Lone Star Conference in 2019.

Alongside his commitment to DBU Athletics, Smith serves on the Division II Athletics Directors Association (D2ADA) Board of Directors and has previously served on the NCAA DII Regulatory Affairs Committee, a mentor in the D2ADA Mentoring Program, and a NCAA DII Volleyball and Women's Golf Regional Advisory Committee member. Smith currently serves as the Chair for the Lone Star Conference Council of Athletics Administrators as well as an advisory board member for the sport of STUNT, the YMCA Grand Prairie, and AD's for Christ. Smith is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) as well as the National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD).

As a student-athlete at DBU, Smith was a four-year letterman for the Patriot Golf team from 2005-2009 and served as the team captain in his junior and senior seasons. He was a member of the first Patriot Golf team to qualify for a NCAA Division II Super-Regional Championship in spring 2009 under current Head Golf Coach Kenny Trapp. Following his playing career, Smith served as the team's Graduate Assistant Golf Coach in 2009.

Smith received his Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Management in December of 2009, a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Project Management in December of 2011 and completed his Doctor of Education in Higher Educational Leadership from Texas Christian University (TCU) in November of 2022. Smith and his wife, Cami, live in Maypearl, Texas, and have two daughters, Coraleigh and Copelynn. The Smith's are members at Stonegate Church in Midlothian, Texas.