Brian Smith will retire at end of Mizzou wrestling season; longtime assistant set to fill the role
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The end of an era is approaching in Columbia.
On Wednesday, Mizzou wrestling announced that longtime head coach Brian Smith will retire at the end of the season. Tiger Athletics also announced it won’t be launching a national search for a new head coach, because the guy taking the reins has already been in this program for years. Associate head coach Kendric Maple will be the new leader of Tiger Style, beginning in the 2027-28 season.
“For almost 30 years at Mizzou, Brian Smith has established a championship program and an elite team culture that has shaped generations of student-athletes and elevated our entire wrestling program,” Mizzou Athletics Director Laird Veatch said in a press release. “We’re grateful for everything Brian has given this university — and we’re incredibly excited to support Kendric Maple as he builds on that foundation. Our focus right now is on the 2026-27 team and the opportunities ahead this season, and the best way to honor Coach Smith's legacy is to keep competing and pursuing championships."
“Very few coaches get the opportunity to leave on their own terms. I'm grateful that I can do that, and I'm grateful that I can leave this program in a position of strength,” Smith said in that same press release. “We have outstanding coaches, an incredible staff, and a talented young team. I believe the future of Mizzou Wrestling is as bright as it's ever been. I am thankful to the University of Missouri, the people of Columbia and the state of Missouri for the incredible support they have shown our program over the years. Thank you for believing in Tiger Style and for being part of this incredible journey. Now let’s go do something special at the NCAA Championship in St. Louis.”
Maple will have a big legacy to follow up in Columbia, as Smith has coached more than 200 NCAA qualifiers, 72 All-Americans and six wrestlers to an individual national title in his near 30 years at the helm. He holds a 351-130-4 record all-time, as he actually surpassed Mizzou legend Norm Stewart as the all-time winningest coach in school history in 2023.
However, the success that Smith helped Tiger wrestling achieve didn’t come instantly. In fact, when he took over in 1998 there was a lot of work to be done.
The Michigan State graduate and former three-time All Big Ten Wrestler had already begun building his coaching career, with stops at Western High School in Florida, Cornell and Syracuse. However, his next challenge would become the defining chapter of his career.
When Smith came to town, Mizzou wrestling was far from a national powerhouse. The Tigers had never won a conference championship, and competing for national titles seemed like a distant ambition. All-in-all, he inherited a program that was desperate for an identity. And that called that identity Tiger Style.
"Tiger Style's belief, compete, expect to win one more. Like, those are ingrained in me once I got here, and so you can take that so far outside of wrestling,” Tiger legend Keegan O’Toole said in an interview with ABC 17 in 2025.
It didn’t take long for that culture to take root and make a difference in the program. In fact, he transformed MU into one of the most consistent teams in college wrestling, breaking through in 2012, when his Tigers captured their first conference title in program history. From there, there was a lot more winning to come.
Under Coach Smith’s guidance, Mizzou wrestling went on to win 12 consecutive conference championships, spanning from the program’s time in the Big 12 and Mid-American Conference. In that time, the Tigers won nine-straight Mid-American Conference championships, before returning to the Big 12 and claiming the conference crowns in both 2022 and 2023.
His success didn’t stop at the conference level, either. Smith led Mizzou to a third-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships, which is the highest finish in program history. Tiger Style has produced multiple Top-10 national finishes, as well as individual national champions.
Ben Askren was Mizzou’s first NCAA wrestling champion, winning back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007. Mark Ellis followed that up with a championship in 2009, and Max Askren added another one on in 2010. Then, came the Columbia legend: J’Den Cox. The Hickman alum won three-straight NCAA titles from 2014 to 2016, becoming one of the most decorated wrestlers in program history.
Mizzou legends Daniel Lewis and O’Toole also claimed NCAA Championships in a Tiger singlets, with O’Toole win back-to-back crowns in 2022 and 2023.
In total, Coach Smith has had six of his wrestlers win 10 individual national championships over the course of his nearly 30 seasons.
And his accomplishments also extended to Mizzou’s coaching record book. In 2023, Smith passed legendary basketball coach Norm Stewart as the windiest head coach in MU history across all sports. His career milestones have included more than 350 wins, making him the best coach - from a winning perspective - in Tiger history.
However, you can’t tell Coach Smith’s story by just taking a look in the trophy case. Over his tenure in Columbia, his program has churned out more than 200 NCAA qualifiers and 70 All-American performances, but his wrestlers have also earned academic honors and have achieved success far beyond wrestling.
For Smith, those accomplishments have also been just as important as what happened on the mat.
"When I look at what a lot of them are doing, you know, one of them is a neurosurgeon and MMA fighters and great coaches and doctors and lawyers, and they just go on and I get notes from them constantly saying, 'Hey, coach, still live in Tiger Style,' and that means the world to me when I hear that,” Smith said in a previous interview with ABC 17.
In Tiger Style, the message wasn’t simply about becoming an elite wrestler. It was also about becoming a better person, as Smith challenged his guys to carry the lessons of Tiger Style into each and every aspect of their lives.
"Like, you can take that within a marriage, you can take that with being a parent, you can take that with having a job or, you know, pursuing, building a company of your own, which is something I want to do in the future,” O’Toole said.
Coach Smith has already hauled in honors for the impact he’s made in Columbia. In 2022, he was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, he was tabbed the Dan Gable Coach of the Year in 2007 and the NWCA Coach of the Year in 2017, as well.
Even though the sports will continue to change and new coaches will take the helm, the foundation that Smith spent nearly three decades building at Mizzou will remain part of the program's identity. After all, his legacy won’t be solely measured in trophies, but by the generations of wrestlers who came through Tiger Style and the lives they went on to lead after they were gone.
But, the man set to fill Smith’s shoes is accustomed to winning, as well. Coach Maple has been in Columbia for nearly a decade, working under Smith. He’s now entering his fifth season as the associate head coach of the program, after first being hired as an assistant in 2019.
Maple came into Tiger Style as an NCAA Champion, a multi-time All-American and a U.S. Freestyle Open Champion. And after just three seasons in the assistant coaching role, Smith quickly elevated him to associate head coach. In that position, he played a key role in guiding O’Toole to back-to-back NCAA titles in 2022 and 2023. He’s also coaches five wrestlers to 13 All-America honors over six seasons, as well as assisting eight conference champions to reach the top step of the podium in both the Big 12 and the MAC.
Prior to joining Smith’s staff in Columbia, Maple served as an assistant coach at Nebraska from 2017 to 2019, helping the Huskers to a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Championships in the 2017-18 season. He also spent one year as an assistant at Purdue, where he helped three Boilermakers qualify to the 2017 NCAA Championships.
However, his coaching career first began at his alma mater: Oklahoma. He was a volunteer assistant from 2014-16, after being one of the most successful wrestlers in Sooner history. In his time in Norman, Maple was a three-time NCAA All-American and claimed the title at 141 pounds in 2013. He owned a 127-25 overall record for an .836 winning percentage. He was sixth all-time in wins in Sooner history.
“Coach Smith has meant so much to me, this program and the University of Missouri,” Maple said in Mizzou's press release. “His impact goes far beyond wins and championships, building a culture, a family and a standard that has shaped generations of young men. I’m incredibly grateful for his mentorship, friendship and trust. I’m humbled and honored to lead this program in the future, and I look forward to building on the foundation he has established, pursuing championships and developing young men who make Mizzou proud. But right now, our focus remains on making this season a special one for Coach Smith and our team.”
