Del Smith

Va. Idependent Conference Coach of the Year
Brentwood Home Page news reports
Del Smith, the Virginia Independent Conference Coach of the Year, is Ravenwood High School’s new head football coach. Ravenwood principal, Dr. Pam Vaden announced the hiring this morning.

“We are very pleased to welcome Coach Smith and his wife Ashley to the Ravenwood community,” she said in a statement released from Williamson County Schools.

Before accepting the Ravenwood position, Smith was head coach of The Blue Ridge School near Charlottesville, Va.  The Blue Ridge School is an all boys, college preparatory school with grades nine through 12.

 “I’m extremely excited about the opportunity to work with the staff and administration to bring home another state championship trophy to Ravenwood.  We have very high expectations of our student athletes and are committed to giving them the tools they need to succeed on and off the field,” Smith said.

In just his second year as the head coach, Smith led the Barons to their first state championship appearance in over 15 years. The Barons finished the season as the 2009-10 Virginia Independent Schools division II state runner up.

Smith was recognized by his peers as the Virginia Independent Conference and Old Dominion Football Conference 2009-10 Coach of the Year. The Barons had over 30 players recognized for all conference honors and five players earned first team All State under Smith's guidance. 

“We’re confident Coach Smith will build our program based on character, discipline and fundamentals,” Ravenwood’s athletic director Patrick Whitlock, who helped lead the search effort, said.

Smith, a native a Richmond, Va., attended Benedictine High School. While at Benedictine, he was a member of a state championship team in football and baseball. He attended West Virginia Wesleyan College and was a member of back-to-back conference championship football teams in 2002 and 2003. Coach Smith earned a degree in marketing and began his coaching career at West Virginia Wesleyan College in 2004. He also coached at Division I FCS school Wagner College from 2006-2008, coaching linebackers and special teams. 

Smith is married to the former Ashley Leinbach of Bridgeport, W. Va.  The couple will be relocating as soon as possible to the Ravenwood area from Free Union, Va.