Accomplished high school coach Jeremiah 'Jerry' Smith, Jr. has been selected as the 11th head baseball coach in the 65-year history of the New Jersey City University baseball program for the 2012 season.

Smith, 33, makes the jump to the college level after seven successful seasons at JFK Memorial High School in Iselin, NJ, where he posted a 120-70 record (.632) from 2005-11, culminating in capturing the 2009 New Jersey Group III state championship and the North II, Group II state sectional crown. The 2009 Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) and 2008 Home News Tribune Coach of the Year, he guided the Mustangs to GMC division titles in 2008 and 2009.

"We are excited about the hiring of Jeremiah Smith," said assistant athletic director Ken Heaton, himself the winningest coach in program history with 255 wins. "Coach Smith came highly recommended by some of the top collegiate coaches in our region. He has great communication skills and a great work ethic. These two traits will help in his relentless recruitment efforts. The athletic department is looking forward to much success under the leadership of Coach Smith."

Prior to taking the helm of the JFK program, he coached alongside his father, Jeremiah Smith, Sr. for four seasons from 2001-04 as JFK captured a pair of GMC division titles (2001, 2002). His father coached the program for 15 years and the father-son tandem combined for 366 wins in 22 years. Smith also served as the head varsity girls basketball coach at the school.

He has also enjoyed notable success coaching summer baseball. In six years as head coach of the JFK American Legion squad from 2000-05 he recorded a 124-52-3 record (.701 percentage). In 2001, he guided the club to a #2 ranking in the state while finishing third in the national regional tournament. He was named New Jersey's American Legion Coach of the Year in 2001 for his efforts.

Smith is the current head coach of the Toms River Hurricanes of the ABCCL College Summer League, posting an 11-1 mark in his first season. He also had a stint as assistant coach at Union County College in 2000.

As a collegiate player, Smith played three seasons at Kean University from 1997-99 for former coach Jim Casalino and current head coach Neil Ioviero, playing right field, third base and first base. In 1997, he earned Honorable Mention All-New Jersey Athletic Conference honors as an outfielder and was a runner-up for the league's Rookie of the Year. That season he batted .356 with 53 hits in 149 at bats in 39 games (39 starts), while scoring 28 runs and driving in 23 RBIs. He added 19 extra base hits (16 doubles, one triple, two homeruns) and 77 total bases with 15 walks, finishing with a .425 on-base percentage, .517 slugging percentage and .971 fielding percentage as Kean went 21-18.

In 1998 as Kean began rising to prominence, he played in 22 games (15 starts) as the Cougars reached the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time since 1988 and only the second time in its history to that point in Ioviero's first season at the Union, NJ school. Smith batted .268, adding 15 RBIs and a .433 on-base percentage as Kean posted a 25-9 record. After his junior season in 1999, Smith completed his active playing career to pursue coaching. Overall, Kean chalked up a 65-44 record in his three seasons with the program.

The 1996 graduate of JFK Memorial, he played four seasons of baseball and basketball for the Mustangs. As a three-year varsity player for his father, Smith was a two-time All-GMC Conference selection (1995, 1996) and established a single-season school record with 15 doubles. He helped JFK win league titles in 1994 and 1996 while guiding the club to the 1994 state sectional finals. He also played in the New Jersey All-Star game and in the 1995 GMC Final Four.

A December 2000 graduate of Kean with a bachelor of arts in Mathematics Education, he currently possesses a BA+18. Smith has worked as a mathematics teacher for the Woodbridge Township Board of Education for 11 years and has also contributed as a SAT prep teacher. He notes his favorite part about coaching is teaching life skills. He resides in Colonia, NJ with his wife, Michelle, and nine-month old son, JJ.