Charles R. "Charlie" Smith (? – 1969) was an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

, basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 and baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head baseball coach at San Diego State University

San Diego State University

San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...

 from 1936 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1964, compiling a record of 555–289–10. Smith was also the head basketball coach at San Diego State from 1945 to 1948, tallying a mark of 45–36, and the school's athletic director

Athletic director

An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...

 from 1947 to 1954. In addition, he served as the president of the California Collegiate Athletic Association

California Collegiate Athletic Association

The California Collegiate Athletic Association or CCAA is an intercollegiate athletic conference in the Division II of the NCAA. All of its current members are public universities, and all except for UC San Diego are members of the California State University system.It was founded in December 1938...

 and as a district representative to the NAIA

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...

. Smith was also a Brooklyn Dodgers scout for southern California.

Early life and playing career

Smith attended Coronado High School

Coronado High School (Coronado, California)

Coronado High School is a National Blue Ribbon high school in Coronado, California. The school was founded in 1913 and is the only high school in the Coronado Unified School District....

 in Coronado, California

Coronado, California

Coronado, also known as Coronado Island, is an affluent resort city located in San Diego County, California, 5.2 miles from downtown San Diego. Its population was 24,697 at the 2010 census, up from 24,100 at the 2000 census. U.S. News and World Report lists Coronado as one of the most expensive...

 and then earned 12 varsity letters as San Diego State, four each in football, basketball, and baseball.

Death and honors

Smith died in 1969. San Diego State's home baseball field, Charlie Smith Field at Tony Gwynn Stadium

Tony Gwynn Stadium

Tony Gwynn Stadium is the home field of the San Diego State University Aztecs college baseball team. In addition, the San Diego Surf Dawgs of the independent Golden Baseball League use the park as their home field.-Stadium history:...

, was named in Smith's honor.