New Stanford men’s soccer coach Jeremy Gunn, just a day after he was honored as National Coach of the Year, named John Smith the lead assistant coach for the Cardinal on Wednesday.

Gunn, a native of the United Kingdom, turned to a fellow English national in Smith to help him on the sideline.

“I am thrilled to announce the appointment of John Smith as assistant coach to the men’s program,” Gunn said. “He has a wealth of experience both as a player and as a coach and will make an immediate impact in the program with his personality and drive.”

Smith spent the last six seasons as head coach at Incarnate Word in San Antonio. He compiled a 62-26-10 record with the Crusaders, turning them into a perennial Division II contender with three consecutive Heartland Conference Championships, a feat that earned him three straight Coach of the Year awards.

“I am very excited to have been afforded the opportunity to join such a fantastic program here at Stanford University,” Smith said. “It is an honor for me to be able to coach at such an institution which has truly become the benchmark for both academic and athletic excellence at the collegiate level.”

After setting scoring records as a striker at Rollins College, Smith played for several professional teams in the United States before eventually becoming an assistant coach with the Cal State-Bakersfield soccer program in 1998, where Gunn was already on the coaching staff.

Along with goalkeeper and assistant coach Mike Graczyk, Smith and Gunn will try to help the Cardinal — which has missed out on the postseason eight times in the past nine seasons — return to prominence in 2012.

– Miles Bennett-Smith