D.J. Smith joined the Mizzou football staff as linebackers coach in December 2019. He added the title of recruiting coordinator in January 2022, and co-defensive coordinator in February 2022.
In 2021, Smith's linebackers accounted for 205 total tackles, led by Blaze Alldredge's team-high 89 stops. Alldredge was one of three Tiger linebackers with 50 or more tackles on the season, joined by Chad Bailey (55) and Devin Nicholson (50). The trio accounted for 25.5 TFL, totaling 80 yards.
He mentored one of Mizzou’s most explosive defensive standouts in Nick Bolton in 2020. On the field, Bolton’s 67 solo tackles led the conference while his 95 total tackles ranked seventh. He also ranked among the SEC's best in tackles per game (9.5, seventh) and tackles-for-loss (8.0, 13th).
In the 2021 NFL Draft, Bolton was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 26th pick in the second round and the 58th overall selection. He finished his Mizzou career earning 2020 second-team All-America distinction from six different outlets (Associated Press, The Athletic, The FWAA, the AFCA, Phil Steele and Walter Camp). He was named to the All-SEC first team by the league's coaches and the AP, was a Butkus Award finalist, a Jason Witten Man of the Year semifinalist and was named to the SEC Community Service Team.
Smith spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons - the latter on Eliah Drinkwitz's staff - as outside linebackers coach at Appalachian State, his alma mater. Both years saw the Mountaineers win the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
Smith, who was a standout linebacker for the Mountaineers, was part of the App State coaching staff in various roles since 2016. In that time, App State amassed a 42-10 overall record, won or shared four-straight Sun Belt Conference Championships, and went a perfect 3-0 in bowl games to date.
Working under Drinkwitz in 2019, Smith helped lead the Mountaineers to a Sun Belt title with a 12-1 overall record and a No. 20 national ranking. App State's defense played a key role in its title run, as the Mountaineers ranked in the top 30 nationally in numerous major statistical categories, including: third-down defense (14th NCAA/1st Sun Belt – 31.4 percent), pass efficiency defense (18th NCAA/1st Sun Belt – 114.60), interceptions (19th NCAA/1st Sun Belt – 13), scoring defense (22nd NCAA/2nd Sun Belt – 20.2 avg.) and total defense (26th NCAA/1st Sun Belt – 335.9 avg.).
Two of Smith's pupils received 2019 all-conference recognition, including Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Sun Belt honoree Akeem Davis-Gaither. Additionally, Noel Cook was voted to the All-Sun Belt honorable mention team.
In helping App State win the inaugural Sun Belt Championship Game and win a fourth-straight bowl game in 2018, Smith coached a group that included Davis-Gaither, who led Sun Belt players from bowl-bound teams in tackles per game. He returned to Boone in 2016 as the director of recruiting relations and worked in 2017 as a senior defensive analyst.
A Charlotte native, Smith started the final nine games of App State's 2007 national championship run as a true freshman and had more than 120 tackles in each of his four college seasons, including two in which he earned All-America recognition. He finished his career with 525 tackles, 50 straight starts and ranks second behind only Dexter Coakley on the career tackles list at Appalachian.
A sixth-round draft pick by the Green Bay Packers in 2011, he made three starts in 16 games as a rookie and started six more games the following year. He totaled 82 tackles, two sacks and one interception with the Packers before spending time with the San Diego Chargers and Carolina Panthers from 2013-14.
Smith and his wife, Charla, are parents to a son, Carter.
