The Ole Miss Track and Field head coach vacancy was filled on Tuesday when Ole Miss hired Connie Price-Smith to take over from the previous coach, Brian O’Neal. Price-Smith has plenty of experience at the collegiate level; she was a six-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the year and won the Missouri Valley Conference title for the men or the women’s team a combined six times during her time at Southern Illinois University. However, her most impressive accomplishments are on national and international stages. Price-Smith won 25 U.S. Championships in the shot put and discus and competed in four Olympic Games as an athlete. She has also been named the Women’s Track and Field head coach for Team USA at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
“This is a transformational day for Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country. Selecting Connie Price-Smith as our new head coach sets the course for a new era of success in all phases of our program,” Athletic Director Bjork said in a press release on olemisssports.com. “Her experience as a four-time Olympian, world-class athlete and now the 2016 USA Women’s Olympic head coach, indicates she is one of the most respected members of the track and field community and is more than prepared for this opportunity. From our first conversation earlier this summer and her visit to campus last week, we could tell Coach Price-Smith was a perfect fit to lead our program and create a new normal for the Ole Miss track program academically and athletically. We welcome Connie and her husband John to the Ole Miss family.”
Price-Smith was also quoted in the press release about her new job.
“While it saddens me to leave my alma mater, the great athletes there, the staff that had become my family and the community that always stood behind me, I am excited to become a Rebel!” Price Smith said.
Shannon Singletary, the sport administrator for track and field and the senior associate athletics director at Ole Miss, explicated on why Smith-Price was chosen as the new coach.
“When the hiring committee set out to find the best person to lead the Ole Miss track and field program, our priority was to find a great leader, administrator and technical coach,” Singletary said. “Connie has proven through her years of work with NCAA committees, USA Track & Field and through her excellent leadership at the Division I level that she no doubt should be the leader of our program. Her previous teams’ NCAA rankings and conference championships have also proven her ability to coach at the highest level. We are so fortunate to add a person like Connie to our Ole Miss family as we continue striving to develop students to their fullest potential through athletics.”
“I am honored to be a part of the Ole Miss family, and I would like to thank Ross Bjork, Shannon Singletary and the rest of the administrative staff for this incredible opportunity,” Price-Smith said. “I look forward to meeting the athletes on the team, assembling a staff and working together to build a future that will make Ole Miss proud.”
