Beverly Smith - Softball Coach - University of North Carolina Athletics

Beverly Smith

Title:
Associate Head Coach

A former Tar Heel standout (1991-94), Beverly Smith joined the Tar Heel coaching staff as an assistant coach for the 1999 season. Smith spent a total of 11 seasons on the Carolina coaching staff (1999-02, 2004-10), receiving the title of assistant head coach when she returned to the staff in 2004 and being promoted to associate head coach in 2008.

Smith's first contributions as a Tar Heel came on the field as a player, where her remarkable career from 1991-94 helped establish Carolina as a growing softball force. Since then, though, she has continued to make an impact on the program, including in her current role as assistant head coach, a post she has held since 2004. Smith works with the team's pitchers and catchers and also coordinates recruiting.

From 1998-2002, Smith served as an assistant coach at UNC, helping lead the 2001 Carolina squad to its first Atlantic Coast Conference title and first NCAA Tournament appearance. After rejoining the staff in 2004, the team reached the NCAA tournament every season. Star pitchers Radara McHugh and Crystal Cox are just two pupils to thrive under Smith's tutelage. McHugh was an All-Region and two-time All-ACC performer, including being named MVP of the 2001 ACC tournament. Cox, in addition to being named All-Region and All-ACC (twice), was selected as a 2006 All-America.

Following her graduation from UNC in 1994 with a double major in speech communications and political science, Smith coached Episcopal High School in Bellaire, Texas, to state championships in 1995, '97 and '98 and a state runner-up finish in 1996.

Born Dec. 30, 1971, in Asheboro, N.C., and raised in Houston, Smith worked from 1994-96 as the marketing coordinator for the University of Houston athletic department. In 1997, she played and served as an assistant coach for the Tampa Bay FireStix of the Women's Pro Softball League.

A standout player for Carolina from 1991-94, Smith became the first Tar Heel to earn Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year honors in 1994. She also earned All-Southeast Region honors that season. She still ranks among the program's top 10 in numerous career batting and pitching categories including RBI's (second), triples (second), total bases (fourth), complete-game shutouts (fourth), ERA (fifth), slugging percentage (sixth) and innings pitched (sixth). In 2002, she was honored as one of the top 50 softball players in ACC history.