Christopher Smelley is an American football and baseball player.
Education
American Christian Academy, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In his career, Smelley set Alabama High School Athletic Association records for yards in a single game (585) and season (4,120). He also set Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) records for touchdown passes in a season (59) and career (134).
While attending American Christian Academy in Tuscaloosa, the 6"2", 221 lb Smelley played on three state championship baseball teams and was the Class 1A Player of the Year for 2005, but chose to pursue college football over college baseball.
On February 1, 2006 Smelley signed a national letter of intent to play football at the University of South Carolina. He was listed as a top-rated football prospect on Entertainment and Sports Programming Network.com"s "Class of 2006".
Career
He is a former starting quarterback for the University of South Carolina, as well as a former catcher for the University of Alabama. University of South Carolina He arrived at South Carolina in 2006 and made two appearances in a backup role for the South Carolina Gamecocks. In the first two games of the 2006 season, he completed 9 of 15 passes for 112 yards.
He suffered a heel injury during a practice and was granted a medical redshirt.
In 2007, after his return from injury, he took over the starting position after replacing ineffective starter Blake Mitchell against Louisiana State University. Steve Spurrier announced that Smelley would start against Mississippi State University on September 29, 2007, a game which earned him Securities and Exchange Commission Freshman of the week honors. In 2008, Smelley was the second string quarterback behind Tommy Beecher.
Beecher later suffered a concussion in the second half of the first game of the season after throwing four interceptions. Smelley entered the game and completed five passes on five attempts, also throwing for two touchdown passes.
He was then named as the starter for the next game against the Vanderbilt Commodores.
Foreign his performance he was named the Securities and Exchange Commission Offensive Player of the Week. He was 9-6 in 15 career starts. Foreign his career, Smelley completed 56.4 percent of his passes for 3,210 yards and 23 touchdowns with 22 interceptions.
He ranks in the top 10 on University of Southern California’s all-time list in completions (270), attempts (479), completion percentage and passing touchdowns (22).
University of Alabama On January 9, 2009, Smelley declared that he would be transferring from the University of South Carolina to go play baseball (and possibly football) at the University of Alabama. Due to National Collegiate Athletic Association transfer rules, he must sit out spring semester, though he is still able to practice with the team
Coaching career Chris Smelley was hired as Head Football Coach at American Christian Academy in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on January 9, 2014.