Michael Smoose joined San José State Athletics in February 2023 and was promoted to Associate Athletics Director for Marketing, Licensing and Creative Services in November 2023. Smoose will oversee all marketing, licensing and creative efforts for the Spartans and serve on the management team.
An athletics administrative veteran with over 25 years of experience, Smoose joined the Spartans after three years as the Director of Athletic Marketing and Communications at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. There he oversaw both departments as well as ticket sales and video production.
Serving as both the marketing and communications contact for the SHU football team, he developed a football marketing strategy that produced the highest single-season attendance in school history, the top two single-game attendance marks and increased average attendance by 33 percent from 2019.
Through collaborative efforts within the campus and Fairfield community, attendance grew across the board at all Sacred Heart athletic events. The Pioneers were recognized by the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) with the bronze medal in the “Best of” Single Game Campaign category for the first home men’s basketball game against crosstown rival Fairfield that drew a sold out, single-game record 3,873 fans.
Smoose played an important role in the opening of the Sacred Heart’s new $70-million dollar Martire Family Arena. One of the premiere college hockey arenas in the country, Smoose oversaw the arena’s branding as well as the two-year communications plan from ground breaking to the arena’s opening. He designed the game day presentation, including the integration of the broadcast-quality, in-house production, Daktronics video boards and specialty lighting.
The Pioneers’ social media engagement increased by 12 percent by producing engaging content that ranked SHU #2 nationally on the Skull Sparks FCS rankings in 2021. Three times during his tenure, SHU was featured in ESPN’s Top 10 plays.
Smoose oversaw the promotional campaign for Sacred Heart running back Julius Chestnut during the spring of 2021 that culminated in a top-3 finish in the Walter Payton Award, the highest honor for an FCS student-athlete. Chestnut was a consensus All-American and signed a free agent contract with the Tennessee Titans.
Twice Smoose has served in an interim AD capacity, most recently at the Johnson & Wales University Denver, Colo., campus. He was also the interim at Armstrong State University in Savannah. At both stops he instituted programming that addressed student-athlete mental health, nutrition and increased the department grade point average above a 3.0.
Prior to his arrival at Sacred Heart, Smoose was an Associate AD at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI. There he oversaw communications, marketing, game operations, facilities, campus recreation, club sports and intramurals. Johnson & Wales athletics received increased local, regional and national coverage including two spots on ESPN's Top 10 plays. JWU won the gold medal for a 2018 NACMA "Best of" Award in the Fan Engagement category for its promotion of the Downtown Showdown wrestling meet in historic Providence Theater.
Before that, he was the assistant director of athletics for external relations at Armstrong State University in Savannah, Ga. He oversaw the department's marketing and promotions plan as well as corporate sponsorship and the Pirate Athletic Association. Under his direction, corporate sponsorship revenue doubled and PAA membership rose by 75 percent.
Prior to joining the staff at Armstrong State, Smoose spent 11 years in athletic communications with stints at Florida State, Northern Illinois, Fresno State and Ohio University. While at Florida State he publicized the Seminoles' nationally-ranked women's basketball and track and field teams while serving as a secondary contact for football and men's basketball.
A native of Brookville, Pa., Smoose earned his master’s degree in business administration from Florida State University and his bachelor’s degree in sports science from Ohio University. He is married to SJSU Women’s Volleyball Associate Head Coach Melissa Batie-Smoose.