At a news conference on campus today, Albany State University head football coach Hampton Smith announced his plans to retire at the end of the 1999 football season. Assistant coaches James Michael White and Rickey Alexander have received promotions.
The legendary Smith, who has been head coach of the Golden Rams for 22 seasons, cited health issues and a desire to spend more time with his family as reasons for his retirement.
Smith has molded the football program into one of the best in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC). Under his leadership, Albany State has won nine SIAC championships, with five consecutive championships from 1993 to 1997. During his career, Smith has won 149 games, with 87 losses and four ties.
Smith is responsible for bringing ASU's football program to national prominence. He is the only coach in the SIAC to lead his teams to five consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division II playoffs. His hard work, persistence and dedication to the coaching profession have made him one of the most successful coaches in college football.
A native of Greenwood, Miss., Smith served as the head coach at Albany State from 1971 until 1976. He returned to Albany State as an assistant coach in 1980, and took the head coaching rank in January 1982, bringing back a winning tradition to the gridiron.
A 1956 graduate of Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Miss., Smith earned a master's degree in Health and Physical Education at Tennessee State University in Nashville. He was named SIAC Coach-of-the-Year in 1984, 1986, 1993, 1994 and 1996; and Coach-of-the-Year by the Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C. and the 100% Wrong Club of Atlanta in past years. In May 1995, he was inducted into the Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame.
"Hampton Smith is one of the finest coaches in collegiate athletics. We appreciate his contributions to ASU's football program. And we hope his 1999 season will be one of the best ever," President Portia Holmes Shields said.
Dan Land, ASU director of Athletics, said Smith's tenure at Albany State has been one of accomplishment and achievement. "We are grateful for his dedication and winning spirit," he said. "We look forward to that winning spirit as he embarks upon his final season as head coach of the Rams."
White, who presently serves as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, has been promoted to assistant head coach of the Golden Rams. He begins his 16th season with the football program in the fall. Under White, the ASU defensive unit has been ranked in the top 10 in NCAA statistics for the past six years. In 1997, ASU's defense was ranked number one in scoring defense. A 1978 graduate of Albany State and native of Augusta, Ga., White was an All-American during his playing years at Albany State in the late 1970s. He was co-captain of the 1978 squad and finished that season as one of the top two defensive tacklers on the squad. White also played professional football with the Seattle Seahawks and the Cincinnati Bengals for six years.
Runningbacks coach Alexander has been named offensive coordinator of the Golden Rams. He starts his 15th year with the football program in the fall. A 1981 graduate of Albany State, Alexander earned his master's degree in Education in 1997 from ASU. During his collegiate years at Albany State, Alexander was a starting quarterback. He is listed among the best quarterbacks in ASU's history and broke several records during his college years.
ASU will begin a national search for the head coaching position in July.
