With the 2019 season, Wade Smethers begins his second year as a Blue Devil assistant coach, and will work again with the wide receivers.

In 2018, Smethers worked with a wide receiving corp where only one of the returning receivers had caught a collegiate varsity pass. By the end of the young group was well indoctrinated into collegiate life. Three freshmen - Levy Hamer, Parker Fossum and Tyler Seymour - accounted for 1827 of Stout’s receiving yards and racked up 13 of the team’s receiving touchdowns. Hamer and Seymour both earned second team all-conference honors.

Smethers was an assistant coach for three season at UW-River Falls, his alma mater, from 2015-17, where he worked with the running backs and wide receivers in 2015, and served as the co-coordinator for special teams in 2016 and 2017. During his time at River Falls, Smethers served as the program's youth camps coordinator, as well as the video coordinator for a season. He was the school's equipment co-coordinator.

Smethers played both quarterback and tight end from 2010-14 for the Falcons. In a game against Stout in 2014, Smethers caught two passes for 57 yards and two touchdowns.

A native of Cambridge, Minn., Smethers was a four-sport letterwinner at Cambridge-Isanti High School. Smethers received his bachelor's degree from UW-River Falls in Health and Human Performance.