Bio

Coach Sunil Smith is entering his 7th season on staff with the Panthers.

He has served as an assistant in several capacities during those years. His last role at Hartnell was as the Defensive Coordinator. In 2021, Coach Smith stepped away to spend more time with his family. As a father of 4 young girls, his personal time has been devoted to their development as student/athletes as well.

Here, at Hartnell College, we are thrilled to have Sunil as a member of our football staff, and as a faculty member in the Physical Education / Kinesiology Department. He will be with us again this season as a Defensive/Special teams Analyst. He has been an Educational Specialist at Alisal High School for 18 years, and he is currently employed at El Puente School as a resource specialist. In addition to teaching, he was the Varsity Head Football Coach at Alisal High School for 10 years and 12 total years coaching there, after serving his first two years as an assistant.  Smith was able to lead Alisal to its 1^st ever league championship and playoff-berth in his first season as the head coach. Smith was able to successful transform a dormant program into an annual contender each and every season under his direction.

Coach Smith was also named as one of the top 10 high school coaches in Monterey County since 1979 by the Salinas Californian.  Although he currently lives in Salinas, California, Coach Smith was born and raised in Covington, Georgia and graduated from Newton County High School in 1993. Smith attended and played football at Hartnell College for two years, earning All-State honors during both seasons. Smith was awarded a scholarship to Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications with a minor in Recreation Leadership. Additionally, Smith played Defensive Back and was a two-year Letterman in football at SWOSU.                                                                                                   

Coach Smith also has a Masters of Education degree in Kinesiology from Fresno Pacific University.  He has been happily married to Tamisha L. Smith (Allen) for 15 wonderful years and have four beautiful girls named Jordan (14), Micah (11), Brooklyn (9) and Shiloh (5).  Coach Smith met his wife, Tamisha, while attending Hartnell as she was a standout track star winning both State and qualifying for Nationals during her time at Hartnell.  Tamisha was inducted into the Hartnell College Athletics Hall of Fame. Coach Smith spends all of his time away from teaching and coaching with his family; however, they are actively present at practices and games. Smith adamantly expresses that "we are a family of believers in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" and they are active participants in community service events.