CHARLESTON, S.C. – This summer The Citadel Athletic Department is highlighting a number of our coaches in a series titled Coach's Corner. The videos will post each Wednesday morning throughout the summer and are intended to help Bulldog fans and supporters get to know our coaches away from competition. Each Coach's Corner episode features the coach reflecting on his or her background, goals and experiences, in addition to their attraction to The Citadel and coaching our cadet-athletes. Links to previous Coach's Corner posts can be found at the bottom of this article. This week we feature William Smith.
Rapid Fire
Last movie you saw in a theater: A Bond film
Last book you read: A Dick Francis novel
Favorite meal: Barbeque
1. Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Charleston.
2. How many siblings do you have?
I'm the baby. I have a sister who lives in Charleston and a brother who lives in Ridgeland.
3. How did you first get interested in your sport, was there a certain person who influenced you?
I got interested in rifle when I got too old to continue racing dinghies. I was over in England – cold, wet and miserable in the English Channel. I came home and my best friend who's a Citadel grad, Ben Peeples, an attorney in Charleston, got me to go out to the gun range and got me started shooting. It turns out shooting and sailing are really the same sports.
4. What is the best concert you have ever been to?
The best concert I ever attended, and I didn't attend a lot of them, was a YES concert at the University of South Carolina in the old auditorium there.
5. What is your favorite hobby outside of athletics?
My favorite hobby other than the rifle team at The Citadel is going fishing. I go fishing down at a private pond at Bear Island, which is dead center in the ACE Basin.
6. Tell us about your most memorable vacation:
I guess my most memorable vacation would be a week we spent at Folly Beach growing up. A lot of surf, a lot of sand. Good memories
7. Where is a place you'd like to visit that you have never been?
I guess out of all the places I haven't been the one I'd most likely want to go to would be taking a train across Canada and ending up in Alaska.
8. What would you consider your greatest athletic achievement?
My greatest athletic achievement would be a good finish at the national championships in Prone and winning a couple mid-winners in dinghies.
9. How did you get into coaching? Was it something you always wanted to do?
I had two nephews that I coached as juniors at our local gun club and they gave me a call one day because The Citadel had demoted rifle to a club sport and the coach was leaving and it was going to get shut down. So they asked me if I would consider one or two afternoons a week coming down here and coaching. So you never know when you're sticking your nose under the tent like the camel does. And 20 years later here I am. We've got a building, we're going to be hosting the national championships, and you just never know where you're going to end up.
10. What do you enjoy most about the culture at The Citadel?
I guess looking at the culture of The Citadel the thing I appreciate the most and like the most is the integrity and knowing the kids, when they're here they are safe they are getting a good foundation and good instruction.
11. Tell us about your most memorable experience so far at The Citadel:
I guess my most memorable experience at The Citadel was a graduation with one of the early teams. A young lady on the team said I want you to sit with my mom and I said, well I don't need to do that and she said, you don't understand you've been a father to me for the last four years so you're sitting with mom. And I did.
12. What has been your favorite part about working at The Citadel?
My favorite part in working at the citadel is probably knowing I have a place to come every day right now. Looking towards retirement I'm not sure what I'm going to do.
13. What's the best part about coaching?
I think my favorite thing about coaching is every year you have a new group of young people and they keep you young and they amaze you with their performance and things they can do.
14. What was your reaction when you found out you'd be hosting a NCAA Rifle Championship?
When I first found out we were going to host because that was a long battle, especially the years I was on the committee, I kept arguing that there's this elation that its finally going to come here. It's a good finish to my career at the citadel and it's a good chance to showcase our program our city the school. So many people don't understand the south shooting the citadel and Charleston so tlet them all come down here and see how wonderful it is.
Coach's Corner Schedule
May 31 - Jody Huddleston
June 7 - Sandra Worman
June 14 - Chuck Kriese
June 21- Jack Marchant
June 28 - Lori Bonacci
July 5 - William Smith
July 12 - Craig Mosqueda
July 19 - Erin Leonard
July 26 - Rob Hjerling
Aug. 2 - Kris Kut
Aug. 9 - Ciaran Traquair
Aug. 16 - Stevi Robinson
For more information on The Citadel rifle, follow @CitadelOlympic or visit CitadelSports.com.
