Triton hires Scott Smith as head coach for Women's Flag Football

Like any experienced coach, Scott Smith plots his strategy short and long-term, on multiple levels and always interconnecting.

The newest Triton College head coach of the newest sport on campus plans to sweep the school grounds for talent for the inaugural women's flag football season beginning in the spring of 2026. Smith also will extend his contacts to high schools and other colleges for future recruiting. All the while, he will find a way to scout opponents of the fledgling junior college flag football circuit, in which women go 7-on-7 in a non-contact (officially) form of the gridiron.

It's a brave new world to which Smith brings his more than three decades of football coaching at the high school level. Newly-retired as a high school educator and coach, he is a long way from retiring his love of the game. All that lifelong know-how will be applied as flag football, which has become the fastest growing youth sport in America.

"I have a passion for football, and want to continue it," said Smith. "One thing I was always impressed with was the (practice) work of the girls, which was different than the boys. I enjoyed coaching 7-on-7 (off-season) competition. I was intrigued by the ground-floor aspect. It's an opportunity to start anew."

Triton fields well-established women's sports in basketball, softball and track and field. Flag football will start out as an invitational sport only, meaning it will not be at NJCAA championship-level status as the established sports. A team can enter the national invitational tournament at the end of the season. There is no region or district championship round required to qualify.

Triton likely will play four-year colleges in addition to some traditional junior college opponents from the other sports. College of DuPage and Bryant & Stratton College just outside of Milwaukee are the only other Region 4 schools with women's flag football programs. The motivation for JUCO participants should be the same as in the established sports, said Smith.

"This is a great opportunity to develop your skills and be noticed by four-year schools," he said. "I believe in the JUCO system. I played in JUCO at Palm Desert (Calif.)."

Even with his experience, Smith is undergoing a self-education process in the sport while he firms up who will assist him on his coaching staff along with his efforts to round out a roster.

"One of the first things I want to do is identify my most athletic defensive person," he said. "The next most important talent is the center who snaps the ball. I was a long snapper when I played."

Smith said student-athletes on campus already have expressed interest. He has received several e-mails from high school coaches with leads on future talent. He hopes to begin competition with a 15-person roster.

If his new recruits could "bleed" football, in its non-contact form, the way Smith did as a player and coach, Triton flag football could eventually be as successful as the established women's sports.

Retired in 2023 from his final assistant coaching stint at South Elgin High School, which went 45-5 with five straight Upstate 8 titles during his tenure -- Smith has enjoyed a long journey through winning programs.

A California native who went to high school at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, N.M., Smith came to Illinois in 1987 to finish his college football career at North Park University. Following in the coaching footsteps of father Samuel Smith Jr., he began as a student-teacher assistant under Eddie Miller at Chicago's Mather High School in 1989.

He'd eventually join St. Viator's coaching staff in Arlington Heights, then moved down the road to Prospect High, where he was offensive line coach for the 2001 Class 7A IHSA state champions. After moving back to St. Viator, he finally got the chance to be a head coach at Skokie's Niles North High School in 2005.

In 2012 Smith was promoted to athletic director at McHenry High School. He moved on to his final coaching job under Dragan Teonic at South Elgin in 2019.

Now Smith will add coaching at the junior college level to his resume.

"I want to use my relationship-building skills," Smith said. "I've seen other coaches move to flag football. This is a great motivation for me."

Triton students interested in participating in women's flag football can email coach Smith at samuelsmith3@triton.edu or fill out a Prospective Athlete Form.

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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle)