Dr. Jeff Smith gave Roseburg High School the distinction of claiming him as runner-up in the very first Oregon state freestyle tournament when he finished between two future Olympians, Jess Lewis and Henk Schenk. He chose Oregon State for his bachelor and master degrees, finishing fourth in the NCAA tournament for the Beavers. He served as an assistant coach to Dale Thomas for three years before moving to the UO for his doctorate degree and another assistant coaching job for the Ducks between 1970 and 1975. His work with the “big guys” included coaching two-time national champion Jess Lewis at Oregon State and future World champion Greg Gibson at Oregon. After taking a professorship at Cal State Dominguez Hills, he coached at Huntington Beach High School for 10 years. After years of commuting between central Oregon and Los Angeles, Jeff coached at Sisters Middle and Sisters High Schools as an assistant and head coach for nineteen years.  In between his 30 years of coaching, he refereed 12 years in Oregon and two years in California. He lives with wife Ginny in Sisters.