MARTIN, Tenn.– University of Tennessee at Martin soccer head coach Mike Varga announced the hiring of Lauren Smith as an assistant coach for the upcoming season.
Smith joins UT Martin after spending last season under Steve Voltz at Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs made a run to the Conference USA semifinals as Smith directed goalkeepers.
“Lauren checks all the boxes of what I look for when hiring an assistant coach,” Skyhawk head coach Mike Varga said. “As a player, she was part of a successful high level program and played under a highly respected coaching staff. She has gained valuable coaching experience at all of her previous stops and is eager to help in all areas of the program. As a goalkeeper coach, she is knowledgeable and can help our goalkeepers reach their potential. Lauren is also very capable of running full team training sessions and excellent with our match day prep. Lauren is also someone that has concern for the student-athletes that she coaches, and we are fortunate to have her as part of our staff at UTM.”
A native of Glenview, Ill., Smith brings in nine seasons of coaching experience with stops at the University of Pacific (assistant coach), San Juan South Soccer Club (head coach), Morehead State (assistant coach and graduate assistant) and Commonwealth Soccer Club (assistant coach).
As an assistant at Pacific, Smith helped conduct a goalkeeper duo that recorded 105 saves in the 2022 campaign, turning in five clean sheets with seven wins and only three losses. At San Juan South Soccer Club, she directed the Girls 09 club team and helped enhance player insight of tactical game elements.
During the 2019 season, Morehead State totaled 100 saves with four shutouts. While coaching the Girls 04 club team at Commonwealth Soccer Club, Smith provided specialized training for both male and female goalkeepers of various age groups in the program.
Smith played college soccer for the Nebraska Cornhuskers where she was a six-time member of the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll and garnered Academic All-Big Ten accolades twice (2017, 2018). In 2020 she was named the Student of the Year in the Morehead State University Master’s program.
“I am truly grateful for the opportunity to join the coaching staff here at UT Martin,” Smith said. “This program and the athletic department are committed to supporting their student athletes and helping them to excel in the classroom, in competition, and in life. I am excited to contribute to those efforts and help our team to achieve the success it strives for on and off the field.”
Smith graduated from Nebraska in 2018 with a degree in psychology and earned her Master’s degree in Arts in Sport Management from Morehead State in 2020.
