PERSONAL INFORMATION
Full Name: Brian Smiley
Alma Mater: University of Arkansas at Little Rock, '07
Wife: Katie
Children: Isaac, Christian and Vivienne
COACHING EXPERIENCE:
2010-2017: Indiana State, Assistant Coach
2017-23: Indiana State, Associate Head Coach
2024-PR: Miami, Head Coach
POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE:
2012: NCAA Eugene Regional
2014: NCAA Bloomington Regional
2019: NCAA Nashville Regional
2021: NCAA Nashville Regional
2023: NCAA Fort Worth Super Regional
2025: NCAA Knoxville Regional
CAREER COACHING RECORD:
| Year |
Record |
Pct. |
Conf. |
Pct. |
Finish |
| 2024 |
27-27 |
.500 |
17-13 |
.567 |
4th |
| 2025 |
35-23 |
.603 |
23-7 |
.767 |
1st |
| Career |
62-50 |
.554 |
40-20 |
.667 |
|
|
Brian Smiley enters his third season as head baseball coach at Miami University.
In only his second season as a head coach, Smiley was named the MAC Coach of the Year. He led the RedHawks to a regular season and MAC Tournament Championship for the first time since 2005. The RedHawks had seven players recognized as All-MAC:
Evan Appelwick,
Dillon Baker,
Ty Batusich,
Carson Byers,
Cooper Katskee,
Ryan Novak and
Anthony Zarlingo. Katskee also received the MAC Pitcher of the Year title and Zarlingo was named to the All-Defensive Team. Katskee, Zarlingo and
Clayton Burke joined MAC Tournament MVP
Dominic Krupinski on the All-Tournament Team.
In Smiley's first year leading the RedHawks, Miami finished the season 17-13 in Mid-American Conference play, the program's best conference record since 2019. The RedHawks went 27-27 overall, including a nine-game win streak (the best in five years) and advanced to the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2019.
Miami's
Zach MacDonald earned First Team All-MAC, MAC All-Defensive Team and All-Region honors in 2024.
Carson Byers and
Ryland Zaborowski were also named First Team All-MAC selections. Eight RedHawks were recognized as Academic All-MAC selections and five players were named to the Academic All-District team. MacDonald and Peyton Olejnik were both selected in the 2024 MLB Draft, with Olejnik going to the Angels in the sixth round and MacDonald joining the Tigers' organization in the 15
th round.
Under Smiley's guidance, the RedHawks set a program record with a 3.32 GPA in the fall of 2023 and surpassed this mark with a 3.38 in the spring of 2024. The baseball program also led all Miami teams in community service hours worked during the 2023-24 academic year (1,018 hours).
Brian Smiley was named the 17th head baseball coach in program history on June 10, 2023. Smiley spent the past 14 seasons in the dugout at Indiana State, the first eight as an assistant coach before being promoted to associate head coach in 2017. He also has served as the team's recruiting coordinator since 2009.
Smiley has helped guide the Sycamores to five NCAA postseason berths during his time in Terre Haute, including a trip to the Super Regionals in 2023, the first in program history. ISU posted a 45-16 overall record and went 24-3 in Missouri Valley play, capturing the regular-season title by a six-game margin this year. The Sycamores went on to win the MVC Tournament Championship as well and hosted an NCAA Regional in 2023. ISU was 442-292 during Smiley's time, never recording a losing season and posting nearly 50 victories over Power-5 programs.
Over his time at ISU, Smiley has implemented a recruiting strategy that focuses on the Midwest, Southeast and Latin America. The Mount Vernon, Ind., native has helped produce over 30 MLB draft picks, including picks in the first and second round, highlighted by the 2017 MLB Draft that featured four Sycamore draft picks. In all, Smiley has helped five different players reach the major leagues.
Known in baseball circles as a defensive specialist, Smiley has coached some of the best defensive teams in the country the past 14 years. In 2023, the Sycamores ranked first in the country with a .984 fielding percentage. Indiana State ranked as high as fifth in fielding in 2016 and his teams have finished top-50 in the nation in the category each of the past five years.
Prior to the remarkable 2023 campaign, Indiana State added an at-large selection into the Nashville Regional after posting a 31-21 overall record and 14-10 mark in conference play in 2021. Helping the at-large cause was a doubleheader sweep over No. 16 Tennessee and taking two of three from No. 20 Florida Atlantic.
The 2019 season was a monumental season for Indiana State as the Sycamores finished with a 43-18 record, including a program best 20-2 start to the season. Indiana State went on to claim the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament crown, marking the first time that ISU had won the MVC Tournament since 1995 after winning four-straight elimination games and two-straight games against nationally-ranked Dallas Baptist. Indiana State reached the Regional Final in 2019 with wins over McNeese and Ohio State.
Indiana State entered the national rankings in three different polls in 2019, coming in at No. 23 in both the D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game rankings while sitting at No. 25 in the Baseball America poll. The last time the Sycamores were nationally ranked was at the conclusion of the 1989 season when ranked 22nd by Collegiate Baseball.
In 2019, Smiley coached the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year in Jake Means. Means was a Rawlings Gold Glove finalist and finished the season with a .284 batting average and led ISU with 34 RBIs and 14 hit-by-pitch.
Other career highlights include a 2012 conference championship and a 2014 at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Over his four years as a student-athlete in collegiate baseball, Smiley played one season each at Triton and Lincoln Trail Community College before transferring to play two seasons at Arkansas - Little Rock where he graduated with a bachelors in exercise science.
Brian and his wife, Katie, have three children: Isaac, Christian and Vivienne.
