Last Updated on December 30, 2024 1:21 pm
BOONE, N.C. — App State alum D.J. Smith, a championship-winning player and coach during his previous tenures on the mountain, has been tabbed as the program’s next defensive coordinator by new head coach Dowell Loggains.
One of the best linebackers in school history who also played four years in the NFL, Smith has spent the past five seasons on Eliah Drinkwitz’s Missouri staff, including the last three as co-defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator.
“We are very excited to welcome D.J. and his family back to Boone,” Loggains said. “D.J. has played, coached and recruited for elite defenses at the highest levels of football. As an App State alum, he understands the championship tradition and standard of excellence here on the mountain.”
Smith has helped Mizzou make bowl appearances in each of the last four seasons. The Tigers have been led by a top-25 scoring defense in each of the last two years on their way to a 20-5 record entering Monday’s Music City Bowl.
“I’m excited and honored to come home to App State,” Smith said. “App is a special place with special people. This is where my collegiate career started as a player and as a coach. I appreciate Coach Dowell and Doug Gillin for entrusting me with this opportunity to return and lead this defense. Can’t wait to get started and continue the traditions of App State. It’s always a great day to be a Mountaineer!”
In 2024, Smith’s linebackers have helped Missouri boast a top-20 scoring defense (19th, 20.1 points per game) and total defense (20th, 319.3 yards per game) as one of the SEC’s best units.
Missouri’s defense was 25th nationally allowing 20.8 points per game en route to an 11-2 season in 2023. Smith’s pupil Ty’Ron Hopper earned All-SEC honors, was a Butkus Award finalist for the nation’s best linebacker and was chosen in the third round (No. 91 overall) of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers.
Smith also mentored one of the nation’s best linebackers and one of the most decorated in Missouri history in his first year in Columbia. Nick Bolton led the SEC with 67 solo tackles in 2020 on his way to second-team All-America recognition (from six different outlets) and first-team All-SEC honors. He was named a Butkus Award finalist, a Jason Witten Man of the Year semifinalist and a member of the SEC Community Service Team before being selected in the second round (No. 58 overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Smith’s two-year tenure as App State’s outside linebackers coach coincided with two of the best seasons in school history. The Mountaineers won 24 of 27 games during that span under two different head coaches and defensive coordinators, with the defense ranking fourth in the country in scoring in 2018 (15.5 points per game) and 21st in 2019 (20 points per game).
Working under Drinkwitz in 2019, Smith helped lead the Mountaineers to a Sun Belt title with a 12-1 overall record and a No. 20 national ranking before being hired at Missouri prior to App State’s win in the 2019 New Orleans Bowl.
Smith’s outside linebackers were a big reason why App State won the first two Sun Belt Championship games in 2018 and 2019. Akeem Davis-Gaither, who is currently a team captain with the Cincinnati Bengals, was the 2019 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, while Noel Cook earned All-Sun Belt honorable mention. Davis-Gaither and Cook also earned all-league recognition in 2018.
Throughout his first four years after returning to the staff at his alma mater, App State amassed a 42-10 overall record, won or shared four-straight Sun Belt championships, and went a perfect 4-0 in bowl games. He joined Scott Satterfield’s staff in 2016 as the director of recruiting relations and worked in 2017 as a senior defensive analyst.
Smith amassed 525 tackles as an App State linebacker from 2007-10 and played four NFL seasons.
A Charlotte native, Smith started the final nine games of App State's 2007 national championship run as a true freshman and had more than 120 tackles in each of his four college seasons, including two in which he earned All-America recognition. He finished his career with 50 straight starts and ranks second behind only Dexter Coakley on the App State career tackles list.
A sixth-round draft pick by the Green Bay Packers in 2011, he made three starts in 16 games as a rookie and started six more games the following year. He totaled 82 tackles, two sacks and one interception with the Packers before spending time with the San Diego Chargers, Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns from 2013-14.
Smith and his wife, Charla, are parents to a son, Carter.
SMITH AT A GLANCE
Coaching Experience
2015: Vance H.S. (Defensive coordinator)
2016: App State (Director of Recruiting Relations)
2017: App State (Senior Defensive Analyst)
2018-19: App State (Outside Linebackers)
2020-21: Missouri (Linebackers)
2022-24: Missouri (Co-Defensive Coordinator/linebackers)
Playing Experience
2007-10: App State (LB)
2011-12: Green Bay Packers (LB)
2013: Houston Texans (LB)
2014: Carolina Panthers (LB)
Alma Mater: App State, 2010
Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.
Wife: Charla
Son: Carter
Twitter: @CoachDjSmith
Bowl/Postseason Experience
Coach
2016: Camellia (App State)
2017: Dollar General (App State)
2018: New Orleans (App State)
2019: New Orleans (App State) – did not coach in the game
2021: Armed Forces (Missouri)
2022: Gasparilla (Missouri)
2023: Cotton (Missouri)
2024: Music City (Missouri)
Player
2007: FCS National Championship (App State)
2008: FCS Playoffs quarterfinals (App State)
2009: FCS Playoffs semifinals (App State)
2010: FCS Playoffs quarterfinals (App State)
