Tennessee Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer announced Tuesday that Ashley Smith has been promoted to Assistant Athletics Director for Player Relations & Development. Fulmer had previously promoted Smith to the post of Director for Student-Athlete Development in May of 2018.
Smith steps into the vacancy created when former Assistant AD Dr. Mikki Allen was named Director of Athletics at Tennessee State in April. The position has been slightly modified to work more closely alongside head football coach Jeremy Pruitt.
In Smith's new Expanded Senior Staff role, the Tennessee graduate will oversee the football program's comprehensive VFL programming initiatives. Highlighting those efforts is a comprehensive development assistance system for Tennessee football student-athletes that guides them from enrollment through their transition to post-football professional careers.
Smith will lead player development in creating career connections for current players in order to establish professional networks that consist of alumni, supporters of the program and business partners of the university. She will also assist with on-campus recruiting and develop and lead community outreach programming.
"I'm honored Coach Fulmer and Coach Pruitt have entrusted me to serve my alma mater in this capacity," Smith said. "We share a robust vision for VFL programming in order to prepare our student-athletes for life after football, and I'm excited to bring this vision to life. I am committed to helping our football student-athletes develop holistically by providing innovative programs and initiatives in the areas of leadership development, personal enhancement, community outreach and career and professional development. It is my mission to educate, encourage and empower our young men to be leaders who embrace their position and platform as members of the Tennessee Football Family to make a positive impact on campus, the community and their families.
"The University offers an abundance of resources for all students and I'm excited to partner with these internal as well as external constituents. Additionally, I am looking forward to building relationships with current and former players and their families in a way that makes them proud to call the University of Tennessee 'Home Sweet Home.'"
From 2016-18, Smith worked in the Tennessee football office as Director of Football Administration & Special Events. Upon her promotion to a student-athlete career development role in 2018, she provided professional development and personal transition programming across all 20 Tennessee sports, including graduate school preparation.
Smith partnered with local, regional and national organizations to create career and professional development programming that consisted of career tours, networking nights, job and internship fairs, mock interview sessions and more. She connected current student-athletes with university alumni as a means to educate students on career opportunities available in various industries and establish professional networks.
Early in 2020, she co-led a career and professional development trip during which a group of Tennessee students worked Super Bowl LIV in Miami and networked with sport and entertainment executives. She oversaw the scholarships process, which enabled current student-athletes to receive more than $67,000 in postgraduate scholarships. Smith also helped coordinate and track career placement, which resulted in 98 percent of Tennessee student-athletes obtaining full-time employment and graduate school opportunities.
Earlier this year, Smith was one of 38 women in the country selected to attend the NFL's Women's Careers in Football Forum. The forum connects women that exhibit professional promise to excel in the NFL with general managers, head coaches and club executives as a means to help leaders in the league identify qualified women to join its next generation of leaders. Smith is a member of Women Leaders in College Sports and works diligently to mentor and empower women working in intercollegiate athletics.
In 2017, she was one of 10 women in the country to receive the Women of Color Scholarship, which is part of the Women Leaders in College Sports Women of Color Initiative geared toward providing educational and professional development opportunities for minority women working in intercollegiate athletics.
Her record of excellence since joining her alma mater's athletics staff in a full-time role has led to a steady professional ascension.
"Ashley has an extremely impressive professional track record and she's a born leader," Fulmer said. "She leaves things better than she finds them. As we discussed her vision for this position over the past several weeks, she articulated a comprehensive plan to take our VFL programming to the next level.
"I talk a lot about the importance of developing our own—building leaders from within. Ashley's a prime example of someone who bleeds orange and has worked their way up the ranks. I'm very confident in her ability to bring people together to accomplish great things because she's already proven herself here at Tennessee."
Smith earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and entrepreneurship collateral from Tennessee in 2013. She served under legendary head coach Pat Summitt as head student manager for the Lady Vols basketball program her senior year and worked with the team for a total of four seasons (2009-13).
After graduating from UT, Smith worked for nearly three years at the NCAA's national office in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she helped plan and execute 19 national championships across Divisions I, II and III. She earned a master's degree in sport management in 2017.
