Native Charlestonian William C. Smith has made great strides with the rifle program, moving it from a club sport back to an intercollegiate sport. Smith, 62, has guided The Citadel’s rifle club team the past 12 years and serves as both the men’s and women’s head coach. 

Under the direction of Coach Smith, The Citadel brought home the school’s first Southeastern Air Rifle Conference Championship in 10 years and have finished among the top three in the conference every season since becoming a varsity sport in 2001.

In 2006, with the help of Smith, The Citadel finished construction on their state-of-the-art Marksmanship Center on campus, which contains 16 points for smallbore and air-rifle at 50 feet.  Smith collected a slate of matches for the 2010-11 season that included  the University of Alaska-Fairbanks (2008-09 NCAA National Champions) and TCU (2009-10 NCAA National Champions). The Bulldogs hosted a record eight matches in the facility during the 2010-11.

The Citadel won the 2009 National Sectional ROTC Championship in air and smallbore and finished second in the SEARC Championships in 2007, 2008 and 2009 as well as firing for a third place finish in both 2005 and 2006. The Bulldogs finished second in the SEARC in 2004 and ended the 2003 season as runner-up in the conference with five Academic All-American shooters. The Citadel had a one-loss season and conference championship in 2002.

Also in 2001, Smith led the Bulldog shooters to individual and team NCAA sectionals, competing against teams from South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.

Smith’s goal for the team is to become an annual participant in postseason play. To help reach this goal, The Citadel completed construction of a new indoor shooting range facility in February of 2006. The Citadel Marksmanship Center is the state-of-the-art facility in the SEARC and contains 16 points for smallbore/center fire and air-rifles at 50 feet. The Bulldogs plan to bid on hosting the NCAA rifle championships in the future.