Mike Smith re-joins the Trine football staff in 2018 as an assistant coach and will be in charge of the tight ends.

In his first season as a member of the Trine coaching staff, Smith's leading receiving tight end was Elijah Klepper who caught 12 passes for 152 yards (12.7 yards per reception) and had a team-tying high four TD receptions.  Klepper also was named first-team All-MIAA for the second straight season.  Used primarily as blockers on offense, the Trine tight ends were part of an offensive line that allowed the Thunder offense ranked third overall in the conference and averaged 434.4 total yards per game, but led the MIAA in rushing with 3,353 yards.  Nationally, the Thunder ranked fourth in rushing offense (304.8 rushing yards per game), second in passing efficiency (182.68), 13th in scoring offense (42.6 points per game) and 42nd in total offense (434.4 ypg.).

Smith previously served as a member of the coaching staff in 2006 and worked with the offensive line.  That season, the Thunder ranked first in the MIAA in team rushing (1,800 yards) and averaged 180.0 yards per game on the ground.  Coach Smith brings a wide-range of coaching experience to Trine both at the collegiate and high school levels. He worked with the offensive line at Manchester University from 2000-2002, was a running back and tight end coach at Tiffin University from 2002-2003, and was the wide-receiver coach at Methodist College in 2003. Smith also served as the defensive coordinator for the Fort Wayne Freedom (arena football).

At the high school level, Smith was the Offensive Coordinator at Dekalb (Ind.) High School while teaching at Hamilton (Ind.) High School and was an Assistant Athletic Director.  Prior to coaching at DeKalb, Smith spent time at East Noble (Ind.) High School (2012-15) as an Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line/Special Teams Coordinator where he helped the team reach the Sectional Championship game in 2013 as well as setting several school and conference records during his tenure.  In addition, Smith gained coaching experience at Prairie Heights (Ind.) High School and Angola (Ind.) High School. 

Smith received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Tiffin University where he majored in sports management. He also received his master's degree in business administration from Tiffin.