John Smith - arguably the greatest American wrestler of all-time - and Oklahoma State's longest-tenured head wrestling coach announced his retirement on Thursday afternoon.
Following his Olympic career, Smith took over as head coach at OSU in 1992. That near 33-year run produced five NCAA team championships, 33 individual champions, 23 team conference championships and two Hodge Award winners.
“It has been an honor to coach for more than 32 years at the same institution,” Smith said. “I can’t even begin to tell you what Oklahoma State has done for me, my wife, my immediate family and brothers and sisters who all graduated from OSU. My journey started at age 17 here at Oklahoma State and it has allowed me to accomplish everything I ever wanted.”
All-time, Smith's teams posted a 490-73-6 career dual record which gives him the most wins in school history and the third-most wins in the history of Division I wrestling.
He also coached his teams to eight perfect dual season records, an all-time conference record of 171-24-5 and 21 top-five finishes at the NCAA Championships.
“Coach Smith is a hero and truly the greatest of all time,” OSU Athletic Director Chad Weiberg said. “John has dedicated his life’s work to Oklahoma State University, Cowboy Wrestling and the sport. Although the decision comes with much emotion for him and for us, he felt the time was right to retire. Because we have so much respect for him, we will respect his decision and honor and celebrate his exceptional contributions and loyalty to Oklahoma State. John will continue to support the program as a lifelong Cowboy and due to his efforts, we know great things are yet to come for Cowboy Wrestling.”
Coleman Scott, who returned to his alma mater after an 8-year stint as North Carolina's head coach to be Smith's Associate Head Coach, will take over the reins as interim head coach at OSU.
Expect that "interim" tag to be dropped fairly swiftly.
The list of Smith's other accomplishments in wrestling is extensive and listed below (taken verbatim from OSU Athletic's release concerning his retirement today):
Some of Smith’s most prominent pupils include Olympic medalists Coleman Scott and Jamill Kelly, Hodge Trophy winners Steve Mocco and Alex Dieringer, other multiple-time NCAA champions Pat Smith, Mark Branch, Eric Guerrero, Johnny Thompson, Jake Rosholt, Chris Pendleton, Johny Hendricks, Jordan Oliver, Chris Perry and Dean Heil, as well as five-time All-American Daton Fix and four-time All-Americans Branch, Dieringer, Guerrero, Hendricks, Tyrone Lewis, Oliver, Rosholt, Scott, Smith and Thompson.
Smith also coached at the world level, coaching Team USA at the Olympics in 2000 and 2012, at the World Championships in 1998, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and at the World Cup in 1997. He coached the USA Women’s Cadet World Team in 2018.
Prior to taking over as Oklahoma State head coach in 1992, Smith put together a wrestling career that squarely places him in the conversation for the greatest American wrestler ever.
He won six consecutive world championships as a competitor from 1987-92, including gold medals at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. He also won two gold medals in two attempts at the Pan American Games, two gold medals in two attempts at the Goodwill Games and two NCAA individual championships for Oklahoma State.
His Cowboy wrestling career also included three All-America honors, three conference championships, the NWCA Collegiate Wrestler of the Year award and more than 150 career wins to rank as the most in program history.
In 1990, he became the first wrestler to win the James E. Sullivan Award for the nation’s top amateur athlete.
In addition to the already mentioned international honors, Smith received the Amateur Athletic Foundation World Trophy (1992), was the first American to earn FILA’s Master of Technique Award (Best technical wrestler in the world, 1990), and earned the U.S. Olympic Committee Sportsman of the Year (1990), FILA Outstanding Wrestler of the Year (1991), USA Wrestling Athlete of the Year (1989), Amateur Wrestling News Man of the Year (1988) and U.S. Olympic Committee Titan Award (2004). He was also named one of the 100 Greatest Olympians of All-Time (1996) and is a member of the FILA Hall of Fame (2003), AAU Wrestling Hall of Fame (2024), Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame (1997) and NCAA 75th Anniversary Team (2005).
Smith's international record was 100-5, and his domestic freestyle record was 77-3. Combined with his collegiate totals of 152-8-2 and his high school marks of 105-5, he competed 458 times for his school, club, or country and won 436 times, for a success rate higher than 95%.
