Bolivar, Mo. – SBU head football coach Paul Hansen is excited to announce Ethan Smith as Defensive Coordinator – Defensive Backs. Smith just finished his first season as a Bearcat putting up incredible numbers on the defensive side of the field.
 
"I'm very excited to have Coach Smith leading our defense." Hansen said, "Coach Smith has an incredible track record of coaching some of the best defensive units in the country. His leadership and football knowledge will help lead our defense to the top of the GLVC."
 
This past season he was the Special Teams Coordinator and Defensive Line Coach. Under his purview, he coached three All-GLVC athletes in Josh Koranda, Tyler Hart, and Caleb Saner. His leadership of Saner helped him earn an All-American award, the first by an SBU defensive end since 1991. Saner broke the SBU single season record in tackles for loss with 20.5 and was 2^nd in the Nation in that statistic.
 
"I am extremely excited and incredibly grateful to AD Sheehy and Coach Hansen for this opportunity." Smith said, "I'm excited to help build a defensive culture build around relentless effort, physicality, and taking the football away. We've got a solid foundation of guys coming back and we're off to a great start with this recruiting class. No better time to be a Bearcat!"
 
Prior to joining the Bearcats, he was a coach at Rock Bridge High School where he helped lead the team to back-to-back district championships and two straight state quarterfinals appearances. From 2019-2022, he was the linebackers coach at his alma mater where he contributed to one of the best ranked defenses in the country. There he recruited nine All—Conference athletes and three All-American selections.