Tom "Doc" Smith Bio

1/8/2008 5:20:00 AM | General

Georgia Southern's first full-time head athletic trainer from 1971 to 1994.Built school's sport medicine division from start to finish -- beginning with staff of only one student handling seven intercollegiate sports (all men) to four-man, 13-student department handling 15 sports. Initiated departmental physician and orthopaedic surgeon program, recruiting area doctors to serve all student-athletes. Served as assistant athletics director from 1975 to 1980 before assuming role of interim athletic director during the 1980-81 academic year. Said Erk Russell, “What happened with football at Georgia Southern could not have happened without Doc.”