St. Joseph's coaching icon Doug Smith retires after record-breaking career

Doug Smith won a Missouri state championship in girls’ tennis with St. Joseph’s Academy in St. Louis during his first year as a head coach in 1998. He and St. Joseph’s lost in the final the next year and then won state the next two years.

After losing in the final in 2002 and 2003, they won five straight beginning in 2004.

Smith and St. Joseph’s won their 13th state championship—the 19th overall for St. Joseph’s—in 2024. In between are plenty more state titles, but even more great memories of players, families and staff for Smith.

The legendary coach retired at the end of this season, with his team falling 5-4 in the district championship to John Burroughs School. Though it took place early in the playoffs, the match pitted two of the top teams in the state, as John Burroughs marched to a state championship.

Smith, 81, left an indelible mark with his 13 state titles—the most in Missouri history—in 28 years as St. Joseph’s head coach. He is in five halls of fame, including the St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame (2016) and the USTA Missouri Valley Hall of Fame (2013).

Early Success

Smith certainly knows what it takes to win state. The foundation was laid even before he got to St. Joseph’s by his predecessor, Kathy Boles. Under Boles’ leadership, the Angels won the previous four state titles.

Smith’s first three titles came on the shoulders of Kiki Stastny, who won the state singles title as a freshman … and as a sophomore, junior and senior. The daughter of former St. Louis Blues star Peter Stastny, she is the only four-time singles champion in Missouri history.

Smith didn’t take much credit for the program’s remarkable success, instead passing it on to the girls. He acknowledged he might have helped, with the relatively new format of playing the three doubles matches first followed by singles matches.

“Obviously, they’re the ones who have to win the matches,” he said of his talented players. “There’s some strategy that goes into establishing your lineup, particularly when you’re trying to put together your doubles combinations.

“You start with three doubles matches, and then you break off into six singles matches. Those three doubles matches will set the tone if you win. If you win two out of the three doubles, then you just need to split the singles, and you’ve got it."

He said he let his players have input on who they were paired with, as long as it made sense to him. He definitely didn’t see his role as coach as an instructor.

“We basically only have them for 12 weeks for the season from start to end,” Smith said. “I tell the girls when they arrive, and also at the end of the season if they’re coming back: ‘The tools you bring to tryouts are what you’re going to be playing with the whole season. This is not the time for me or anybody else to be tinkering with your mechanics. That’s what you’re doing in the other nine months of the year with your private coaches.’”