Smith Helped Santa Clara Join Women's Soccer Elite

Dec. 3, 2004

By Dylan Hernandez
San Jose Mercury News

Jerry Smith, a man whose name has become synonymous with women's soccer, once feared being labeled a women's soccer coach.

``I'm ashamed to say it, but I accepted the job because I needed the money,'' Smith said this week. ``It was the only full-time job I could get.''

Lucky for Santa Clara.

Under Smith, the small Jesuit school has become a national power with one NCAA title to its credit and another possibly in the offing. The Broncos play today in the national semifinals against Notre Dame, with the winner advancing to the championship game Sunday in Cary, N.C.

Under Smith, Santa Clara has sent four players to the Olympics, seven to the World Cup and 19 to the Women's United Soccer Association during the league's three-year run. Former Broncos Danielle Slaton and Aly Wagner were No. 1 picks, and Brandi Chastain was the sport's cover girl at its greatest moment.

``Half the reason you come to Santa Clara is to play for him,'' said Broncos senior forward Megan Kakadelas.

Smith, 43, came to the women's team full-time mostly for the money. Not that it was great, but in 1990 he was in no position to turn down a $24,000-a-year job. Though he had been leading the women's team on a part-time basis for three years, he had been coaching other teams at various levels and working odd jobs to make ends meet. He had cleaned parking lots at dawn and worked 12-hour shifts at an Italian restaurant. A steady income, he said, was ``heaven.''

A standout playmaker at Homestead High and Foothill College, Smith was drafted by the Fort Lauderdale franchise of the North America Soccer League in 1981. But he never became more than a practice-squad player, owing in part to knee injuries he suffered in college.

``He was probably one of the most gifted and skillful players I've seen,'' said Steve Sampson, a Foothill assistant when Smith played there.

In 1986, Sampson was hired by Santa Clara to coach the men's team, and a year later he brought Smith in as an assistant. Within weeks of Smith's arrival, the coach of the Santa Clara women's team resigned, opening the door to greatness.

Women's soccer was barely visible then. There was no Women's World Cup. The women's game was years away from being an Olympic sport. A professional league was nowhere in sight -- and neither was Santa Clara's program.

The Broncos had no scholarship players; they wouldn't get one until 1989. A second was added in 1990, a year after the Broncos became the first Santa Clara women's team in any sport to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Smith's teams haven't missed the tournament since.

``I feel very proud to have brought him to Santa Clara,'' said Sampson, now coach of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy.

Smith's record at SCU is 294-73-24. In their past 10 postseason appearances, the Broncos have never failed to reach the quarterfinals. In their past five meetings with 17-time national champion North Carolina, the Broncos are 4-1. The latest of those meetings, in the third round of the tournament Nov. 20, resulted in a 1-0 Broncos overtime victory that kept the Tar Heels out of the Final Four for the first time.

Allotted the NCAA-maximum 12 scholarships in 1997, Smith has no trouble filling his roster with blue-chip talent. His attacking style -- he employs an aggressive 4-3-3 formation -- attracts some of the country's top offensive players. Being highlighted in the film ``Bend It Like Beckham'' hasn't hurt, either.

Smith is extremely meticulous in his preparations, and his greatest strength might be his ability to get players to listen.

``We just take in everything he says,'' forward Tina Estrada said.

A big reason for that, players say, is the way Smith carries himself. Jeff Baicher, a former pro, played for Smith at various times as a high school and college player, and his recollection matches the description provided by Smith's current players.

``The first thing I recognized is that in games where most coaches panicked, he brought calmness,'' said Baicher.

Baicher said Smith was always an effective communicator, enunciating every word, emphasizing certain phrases and frequently repeating himself to make his point.

Chastain, who played at Santa Clara in 1989-90, learned that Smith meant business when he kicked her off the team her first season. She was allowed to return a couple of days later, but ``that showed me it wasn't just idle chatter,'' Chastain said. (Smith and Chastain married in 1996.)

Experience has deepened Smith's credibility. Said midfielder Leslie Osborne, the latest SCU player to make the U.S. national team: ``He's been through every scenario.''

Well, not every one.

There are times, Smith said, that he daydreams about coaching elsewhere -- maybe the national team or a men's team, or even coaching basketball, his first love. But then he remembers: There is work to be done on his current job.

``One of my goals is to make Santa Clara the best women's program in the country. Right now, North Carolina is still clearly the best. Ask people around the country who's the best and a high percentage will say North Carolina,'' he said. ``I would like them to say Santa Clara.''