Byron Smith has entered the opening weeks of his 11th season as the head coach of the Prairie View A&M Panthers. His leadership has provided continuity, but the last four seasons have been a grind for a program that once sat atop the SWAC.
A Program Fighting to Regain Its Footing
Smith guided Prairie View A&M to a conference championship in 2019 and reached the NCAA Tournament, where the Panthers fell in the First Four. They repeated as SWAC champions the following year, but the NCAA Tournament never tipped off due to COVID.
Since that peak, the Panthers have struggled to regain traction. They have gone 37–86 overall and 26–46 in league play over the past four seasons. Prairie View A&M finished 10th in the SWAC in back-to-back years, and the 5–27 mark last season was the program’s toughest campaign since Smith took over during the 2015–16 season.
After defeating Mississippi Valley State on February 24, the Panthers closed the year with four straight losses, including a first-round tournament exit to Florida A&M. Entering the 2025–26 season, Smith held a career record of 129–161 and 98–70 in SWAC play.
Smith’s Track Record Still Carries Weight
Even through the struggles, Smith has assembled a strong resume in Prairie View. He has guided the program to a conference tournament title, three regular-season championships, and three SWAC Coach of the Year awards. His work in 2021 earned him the Hugh Durham Award, given annually to one of the nation’s top mid-major coaches.
Smith’s path to Prairie View A&M ran through several notable stops. He played collegiately at Northwestern State and Tyler Junior College before finishing at Houston. He later joined Houston’s staff as an assistant and went on to serve under Mark Turgeon at Texas A&M in 2007. After brief stints at other programs, he arrived at Prairie View A&M as an assistant in 2013 and took over the head coaching job in January 2016 following the midseason resignation of Byron Rimm III.
Early Season Challenges and What Comes Next
The Panthers have opened the 2025–26 season at 2–3. They picked up two early wins against a soft non conference slate, but then surrendered 96 points per game in road losses to Wichita State, Oklahoma State, and Missouri. The next test arrives Saturday when Prairie View A&M hosts UT Martin.
The non conference schedule gets tougher from there, with back-to-back road games at LSU and Texas A&M surrounding the Christmas break. SWAC play begins on January 3 with a visit to Grambling.
Prairie View A&M was picked ninth in the SWAC preseason poll, ranked ahead of Alcorn State, Arkansas Pine-Bluff, and Mississippi Valley State. Bethune-Cookman enters as the league favorite, with Southern and Jackson State close behind.
Whether the Panthers can climb back toward contention remains to be seen, but Smith has guided turnarounds before. The question now is whether he can spark another one.