Christian Smith is continuing the path of rising young Football Championship Subdivision coaches getting a shot at college football’s top level.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Smith, FCS title-winner South Dakota State’s defensive line coach, is on the verge of becoming Northwestern’s new defensive line coach under recently hired defensive coordinator David Braun.
Braun, who shined as the FCS Coordinator of the Year at North Dakota State, was tabbed this month to become the Wildcats’ new defensive coordinator under Pat Fitzgerald.
Smith does have brief Power-5 coaching experience, after spending the 2016 season as a defensive graduate assistant on Matt Campbell’s Iowa State staff. He also played for and launched his coaching career under Campbell at Toledo.
At South Dakota State, Smith was part of a dominant defense that led the way to this season's National Championship for the Jackrabbits. SDSU's only loss this season was their opener in which they only allowed Iowa seven points (Iowa won 7-3).
Northwestern has continued an offseason of significant staff changes in recent weeks. In addition to Braun’s hiring and the expected addition of Lewis, the Wildcats also recently added young wideouts coach Armon Binns.
After opening its season with a win against Nebraska in Ireland, Northwestern didn’t win a game the remainder of the campaign and posted highly uncharacteristic back-to-back losing seasons under Fitzgerald.
The Wildcats are scheduled to open the 2023 campaign against Big Ten foe Rutgers on the road before a non-conference home tilt against UTEP.