San Diego hires Lamont Smith to replace Bill Grier as coach

Lamont Smith is returning to San Diego to be the new Toreros head coach after playing for the school in the late 1990s.

Smith's hiring was announced by the school on Tuesday night. He will be introduced by the Toreros on Wednesday and will replace Bill Grier, who was fired after the season. Smith will be the fifth coach for the Toreros since they moved to Division I in 1979.

Smith, 39, has spent the past two seasons as the associate head coach at New Mexico. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Saint Louis and later worked as an assistant at Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, Arizona State and Washington.

Smith is returning to his alma mater, where he was a two-time team defensive player of the year and a captain. Smith started all 27 games his senior season when the Toreros went 18-9.