FRESNO, Calif. – Almost 20 years after arriving in the United States to become the goalkeeper for the Long Island Rough Riders, with stops as a player and coach in both the USL and Major League Soccer, the time had arrived for Sacramento Republic FC assistant coach Adam Smith.

“I know [Republic FC Head Coach Paul Buckle] had been saying to me for quite a long time, listen, you’re ready to make the jump now if that’s what you want to do,” said Smith this week. “It was what I wanted to do.”

As a result, it came to be that a little over a week ago Smith was on a dais at Chukchanski Park being introduced as the first Head Coach in Fresno FC’s history.

A championship-winner with both Long Island and Wilmington Hammerheads FC as a player, Smith has built a strong resume in the coaching ranks. Prior to joining Republic FC at its inception as an assistant to then-Head Coach Preki, Smith had previous stints at the Portland Timbers, including during the club’s transition from the USL to MLS, and under legendary Hammerheads Head Coach David Irving in Wilmington.

All those experiences came to the fore when he was approached initially by Fresno FC General Manager Frank Yallop about becoming the 2018 USL expansion team’s first Head Coach. That began a long process that also saw the club’s new MLS partners Vancouver Whitecaps FC involved extensively along the way.

“I met with Frank, we went out on a social basis, had dinner and talked football at length, he came up again and watched me coach and watched me work and the did some more research,” said Smith. “I then went to meet the owner in San Jose and spent a lot of time with him and then again with Frank that evening, and then I had a formal interview process up in Vancouver. I went and did a Power Point [presentation] to the President and Vice President up there in Vancouver and met with the Head Coach Carl Robinson. I got to see the staff there and watched in training, spent a full day.”

As far as he’d come in the interview process, there was still a sense of gratitude for Smith when the opportunity to take his first Head Coaching position was presented to him.

“I’m sure Frank had spoke with them and went through things and then called me up and asked if I would like the job,” Smith said. “I was extremely grateful and humbled and excited at the same time for the opportunity.”