Coach Rating: Brad Smith at Binghamton University

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Youngstown State University

NCAA DI

Do Not Bother

Date: March 29, 2026

By Parent

1.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

1.0

Tags

"Probably the worst coach I’ve ever had the misfortune of dealing with. Completely unprofessional, lacking both competence and basic respect. Thankfully, he’s no longer here. To any college considering him, don’t make the same mistake. Hiring him would be a serious regret. And to any organization: be warned, he brings little to no real-world experience or value to the table"

0

Men's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Men's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Do Not Bother

Date: March 29, 2026

By Athlete

1.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

1.0

Tags

Disorganized Old School Mentality Poor Communication

"Probably the worst coach I’ve ever had the misfortune of dealing with. Completely unprofessional, lacking both competence and basic respect. Thankfully, he’s no longer here. To any college considering him, don’t make the same mistake. Hiring him would be a serious regret. And to any organization: be warned, he brings little to no real-world experience or value to the table."

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Youngstown State University

NCAA DI

His Ego Is Too Big To See That He Is Taking Down An Entire Team.

Date: November 10, 2025

By Athlete

1.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

1.0

Tags

Intense Disorganized

"He creates the worst team environment. In his eyes you are an athlete-student. If you want to get any degrees that has any kind of difficulty he will not understand why you have responsibilities outside of swimming. To him you are just an item that scores him points at meets and don’t have a real life outside of when he sees you. He doesn’t know your name and doesn’t want to you are better off with no coach at all than him. "

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Youngstown State University

NCAA DI

Poor Leadership And Coaching

Date: July 27, 2024

By Other

1.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

1.0

"Claiming he was fostering a competitive environment, but only created an uncomfortable, anxiety filled, and damaging environment, ruining many swimmers love for the sport, including mine. I was consistently put down by him and the team he created. He does not treat his men and woman’s teams equally, favoring the men’s heavily, practices catered towards the men’s team only. He has a very large ego which causes his to be blind to the mistakes me has made and refuses to fix them. Smith claims to support athletes with mental heath issues, but only has punished them by removing them from travel meets and from practices. He does not support individual athletes, unless favored by him, at all. His coaching style was average at best, little knowledge on new techniques. Only looked to increase physical strength rather than improve technique in order to improve times. Often blames the athlete for not improving instead of looking at what he could change for practices to cater to their needs."

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Youngstown State University

NCAA DI

Short Man Syndrome With An Ego That's Taller Than Him

Date: May 3, 2023

By Other

1.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

1.0

"Only cares about himself and his reputation. Cares for men's team more than women's team since they are like his "sons" because he recruited the first group of men when they were reinstated and treats the women with disrespect unless they are his puppet and don't do anything wrong. He says failing is a part of life, but you can't fail when it is under his watch or time or energy. Does not communicate news or update in a timely manner and expects everyone to be on time for things / remember his 5 page emails word for word. He also says beginning of every year that the team as a whole will work on starts with each other / with the coaches once a week, that does not happen until 3 days before team departs for conference. Just saying, don't swim or dive under him unless you can win conference. "

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Youngstown State University

NCAA DI

Date: January 20, 2020

By Verified Athlete

1.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

1.0

"If this man is your coach you should probably transfer. He has a massive Napoleon complex and lacks the ability to lead a division 1 program. He has the brain intelligence of a 6 year old boy and although he brags about his expertise, he shows no experience in dealing with the physical, emotional and mental health of his athletes."

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Youngstown State University

NCAA DI

Date: January 20, 2020

By Verified Athlete

2.6

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

3.0

2.0

3.0

2.0

"Brad truly transformed the Binghamton program over his five years as a coach. The team improved in the classroom and the men we added to the America East conference. But, he has trouble connecting with his swimmers and managing his time. Many swimmers did not have much respect for him and it was hard to have a conversation with him."

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Youngstown State University

NCAA DI

Date: November 13, 2019

By Verified Athlete

3.8

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

4.0

3.0

4.0

Tags

Accessible Cool Intense

"Overall, I had a very great experience with Brad as my coach. He was a very caring individual when it came to our success in and out of the pool. I believe his success as a coach speaks for himself, considering Binghamton Univ. men's team had the 6th highest GPA in the country last year and performed well at Championships. "

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: April 22, 2019

By Verified Athlete

1.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

1.0

"Brad Smith has the intelligence of a fully grown, if that, squirrel. He has a horrible case of Napeolan's Complex and can't let the fact that he is an angry little man go. A golden retriever could do a better job of managing a d1 team. "

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: April 22, 2019

By Verified Athlete

1.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

1.0

"This man is the worst coach I have ever experienced in my entire life. My love for swimming went completely away once this man began coaching me. I was a student athlete struggling with my mental health and I reached out to him for help, and he told me to quit and get a therapist! He is unqualified, unintelligent, rude. "

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: April 22, 2019

By Verified Athlete

4.4

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

4.0

5.0

4.0

5.0

Tags

Accessible Cool Direct Intense

"Highly motivated and passionate coach. A caring individual which has made great strides to improve each and every year of his coaching career; distinctly in his coaching style, accountability, and communication. He has facilitated many personal bests from individuals and multiple team records. Currently has accepted a position at Youngstown State."

-1

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: April 22, 2019

By Verified Athlete

2.2

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

2.0

3.0

1.0

4.0

Tags

Accessible Direct

"Brad is a great guy with awesome intentions, he really genuinely cares about his swimmers on both an individual and athletic level. He is receptive if you make the time to sit down talk with him. That being said, his knowledge of the sport is terrible. I found severe regression in my time with him as my coach, and found his practices disappointing."

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: April 22, 2019

By Verified Athlete

1.2

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

1.0

2.0

1.0

Tags

Intense

"A handful of lucky people find swimming success under this coach, but most people will only see "college bests" at most or end their careers not seeing any favorable times. Has very little knowledge of what it takes to be a coach at the D1 level, and he demands respect instead of earning it. If you can learn how to work around him, he is bearable. "

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: April 22, 2019

By Verified Athlete

3.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

3.0

2.0

4.0

Tags

Accessible Direct

"Good guy, good intentions, not the best coach"

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: April 22, 2019

By Verified Athlete

2.4

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

2.0

4.0

2.0

Tags

Accessible

"Struggles with team management, doesn't do well with keeping track of splits and times. Overall not a bad guy but not a good coach. Acts like he is open to critiques but will ultimately ignore or forget almost all of them. I was disappointed overall that my college swimming experience had to be with him as my coach."

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: April 18, 2019

By Verified Athlete

3.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

3.0

4.0

2.0

3.0

Tags

Accessible Direct Intense

"Found another head coach position at Youngstown State in Ohio. Very accessible and a great guy overall. Always looking out for his athletes and accommodating. Not the most knowledgable"

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: April 5, 2018

By Verified Athlete

1.6

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

2.0

1.0

Tags

Accessible

"Brad has good intentions but doesn't have the intelligence to follow up on them. He is a solid swim coach but is awkward to be around to the point where people try to avoid him at all costs. He has lied to people about receiving scholarship money and is so focused on being loved by the team that he does not want to be their coach. Unliked by team."

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: March 13, 2018

By Verified Athlete

2.8

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

3.0

4.0

2.0

3.0

Tags

Accessible Cool Direct Intense

"Very much cares about the team and I've heard that he has improved over time. I disagree with the level of competition being lowered to boost in season results because it's not accurately showing improvement by facing weaker teams. Needs to be more innovative in his distance training. The sport has evolved beyond pure yardage for certain events."

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: March 12, 2018

By Verified Athlete

1.4

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

1.0

3.0

1.0

Tags

Accessible Direct Intense

"Has no idea what he is doing. Only cares about the team as a whole and winning meets. Has no individual connection unless you are one of his favorites. Does not listen to anything his athletes have to say. Rather than fixing problems, most of the time he makes them worse. Blames others for his mistakes and can never take responsibility for his own."

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: February 26, 2018

By Verified Athlete

2.2

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

2.0

4.0

1.0

3.0

Tags

Accessible Cool Direct

"Unfortunately I believe the BUSD is being led to Elysian fields under Smiths coaching. Instead of actually improving the team, the caliber of competition is being diluted to give the illusion of growth and progress. As it stands now it is unlikely you would grow as a swimmer here. This hire is similar to others made by Binghamton AD Pat Elliot"

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: September 29, 2017

By Verified Athlete

3.8

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

4.0

3.0

Tags

Accessible Cool Direct Intense

"Has transformed into a completely reliable, motivational, and caring coach. Shows interest in the swimmers as well as always improving the dynamic of the team."

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: September 29, 2017

By Verified Athlete

5.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

5.0

Tags

Accessible Cool Direct Intense

"Reading previous reviews about Brad was really upsetting. He has dramatically changed his coaching style, approachability and knowledge. He is a great, personable coach and cares about his swimmers more than anything else. He has done great things for this program and will continue to improve both the program and his swimmers. Brad is a great coach"

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: June 24, 2017

By Verified Athlete

1.4

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

1.0

2.0

1.0

"Has absolutely zero idea how to run a team. Can not remember times or events at all. Was very frustrated with his coaching etiquette the entire time. Don't expect to improve."

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: October 3, 2016

By Verified Athlete

2.0

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

2.0

Tags

Intense

"Unorganized and doesn't know how to use a stopwatch. Yells out inaccurate times and tells us to do stuff that isn't beneficial at all."

0

Women's Swimming & Diving

Brad Smith

Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach

Binghamton University

NCAA DI • American Athletic Conference | AAC

Date: August 24, 2016

By Verified Athlete

2.8

Overall

Caring

Motivational

Knowledgeable

Honest

3.0

2.0

3.0

Tags

Accessible Direct Intense

"Cares about yardage. Does not individualize practices for specialty strokes"

0

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Ratings

• Coach & Staff

Brad Smith Review

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