Michael Smith is entering his second full year as the Director of Cross Country and Track & Field after joining the NAU staff on August 16, 2016.  Smith helped assist the men's cross country national championship winning team in the fall of '16 and took over as the director of both the school's track & field squads along with the cross country teams that following spring.

After taking control of the program completely in the Fall of 2017, Smith helped the men's cross country team to its second-consecutive NCAA National Championship. Both his men's and women's teams swept the Big Sky Championships as well. Smith was honored with the Bill Dellinger Award for being the year's National Men's Coach of the Year and also picked up both the Big Sky's Men's and Women's Coach of the Year awards.

In Smith’s first year as the Director of Track & Field in the Spring of 2017, not only did his teams earn three Big Sky titles (Men's and Women's Indoor/Women's Outdoor), but he was also named the USTFCCCA Mountain Region Women’s Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year.  Smith was also named the Big Sky Indoor Men's Coach of the Year as well in his inaugural season with the program.

Smith coached four Lumberjacks to All-American honors in track & field in 2016, 16 All-Conference performances in the indoor season which was followed by 11 All-Conference finishes during the outdoor campaign.

Smith's teams saw just as much success on the track as they did in the classroom.  He saw one athlete named a CoSIDA Academic All-American second team honoree, five athletes earn USTFCCCA All-Academic honors and over 25 Big Sky All-Academic team members.

Smith comes to Northern Arizona with championship experience and a background in altitude training. He spent four years at Georgetown University, most recently serving as the Director/Head Coach of the Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track & Field programs during the 2015-16 school year. Prior to Georgetown, Smith lived in Flagstaff for six years and founded Team Run Flagstaff, while also working under Dr. Jack Daniels at NAU's Center for High Altitude Training—a U.S. Olympic Training Site for long distance running.

Smith recently coached the NCAA Champion Women's Distance Medley Relay in 2016. During Smith's four-year stint with the Hoyas, he coached 47 All-Americans, 23 NCAA Championship qualifiers, and two Olympic Trials participants. In 2015, the Georgetown men's cross country team won the Big East Championship, going onto place 10th at NCAA National Championships. The women's cross country program has advanced to nationals every season under Smith's guidance, including top-five finishes in 2013 and 2014.

A former All-BIG EAST, All-Region, and All-American cross country runner at Georgetown, Smith was a 2007 qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon, competing in November 2007. Smith graduated from Georgetown in 2003.