Southern Wayne graduate named Campbell's head baseball coach

Published in Sports on January 23, 2007 2:15 PM

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Chip Smith has resigned as head baseball coach at Campbell University, Director of Athletics Stan Williamson announced. Smith, who guided the Fighting Camels for 11 seasons, plans to enter the business field.

Southern Wayne graduate Chris Wiley will serve as interim head baseball coach through the 2007 season. Wiley will be assisted by coach Brad Schrock and student-coach Alston Hatch. Campbell will immediately begin its search for a new head baseball coach and plans to announce a hiring in June following the 2007 season.

Smith leaves the program as Campbell's all-time leader with 267 coaching wins. His record at Campbell stands at 267-339-1. Including eight years as head coach at Pfeiffer, Smith's overall collegiate coaching mark over 19 seasons is 439-492-2.

"We appreciate Chip Smith and his efforts in building the Campbell Baseball program over these last 11 years; we wish Chip the very best in all his future endeavors," said Williamson.

The Danville, Va., native coached three Academic All-Americans while in Buies Creek -- Mike Priest (2005, 2006), Kent Cox (1995) and William McLean (1998). A Fighting Camel player also earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors in eight of the last nine seasons.

Smith's players earned all-conference recognition 18 times during 11 his seasons. Fighting Camels also gained Atlantic Sun Conference all-academic team recognition 99 times in Smith's tenure.

"I will forever cherish the special relationships that I have had with all of the players, opposing coaches and the many supporters that have helped me the past 11 years as head baseball coach at Campbell University," said Smith. "All of these relationships that I have built with baseball people all over the state of North Carolina will always be dear to my heart. I have been offered a position with a major pharmaceutical company that will secure the future for me and my family. I feel truly blessed and thankful for this opportunity that God has provided for me. I wish nothing but the best for Campbell baseball and I feel without question that I am leaving this program in better shape that it was when I took it over 12 years ago."

Smith sent 10 Fighting Camels to affiliated minor league baseball -- Derek Barrows, Byron Batson, Tommy Bayrer, Matt Buckley, Nic Carter, Bradley Coates, Daniel Hall, Willy Kingsbury, Aaron Miller and Chris Warren. Carter was a fourth-round selection of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002.

Campbell advanced to the six-team Atlantic Sun Championship tournament four times in 11 seasons during Smith's stint in Buies Creek. The Camels reached the tournament championship round in 2000 and were seeded fourth one year later, the program's highest finish in league regular season play.

Campbell posted a 19-38 overall record and 13-17 league mark to finish sixth in the 2006 A-Sun standings. The 2005 squad finished 25-29 overall record, 13-17 mark in the Atlantic Sun.

Smith guided the 2001 Fighting Camels to the most wins in school history (33-21). In 2000, his Camels finished 31-25-1 and Smith named A-Sun Coach of the Year.

Smith earned both his undergraduate and master's degrees from Virginia Tech, where he played both football and baseball. Following his graduation in 1980, Smith became the first full-time assistant coach under Chuck Hartman in Tech history.

Smith took over the program at Pfeiffer in 1987 and proceeded to lead the Falcons to five winning seasons despite facing stiff non-conference competition. He was named Carolinas Conference Coach of the Year in 1995. He served as a part-time scout for the New York Yankees from 1988-92, covering North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Wiley is a 2003 graduate of Campbell, who was named assistant coach last July. He spent 2006 as an assistant coach at Limestone College after serving two years in a similar capacity at Louisburg Junior College. A native of Dudley, Wiley also served two summers as the head coach of the Gastonia Grizzlies of the Coastal Plain League.