Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Athletics

Steve "Smoke" Allard joined the baseball staff as an assistant coach in 1987.  He is primarily responsible for serving as the Associate Head Coach and is Rensselaer’s recruiting coordinator.

Under his tutelage, the Rensselaer pitching staff has tied or set over 30 school records and set four NCAA pitching records over the past twelve seasons. In 1997 the staff was ranked first in the nation with the lowest ERA in the country for the second straight year, becoming the only team in NCAA history - at any level - to earn back-to-back pitching titles. Two of his pitchers were also ranked in the top ten in both strikeouts per game and ERA. In 1996 two Red Hawks occupied the Nos. 1 and 2 spots in the entire nation in ERA.

Allard has coached seven All-American pitchers, in addition to many All-League and All-Conference selections. Three out of the five of those pitchers were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft - Doug Drumm, who was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 19th round, Dave Lohrman, who was chosen by the New York Mets in the 42nd round and Bill Snyder who was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 27th round. Both Snyder, Lohrman, and free agent signee Travis Teeter are currently playing professional baseball.

Allard graduated from UMass-Amherst in 1987, where he was a scholarship player for the Division I Minutemen baseball team under head coach Dick Bergquist. He led the team in wins, strikeouts and innings pitched as a sophomore.

Over his entire pitching career, Allard threw 17 no-hitters. A high school All-American, he was a member of the gold medal-winning East Team at the 1983 U.S. Olympic Festival.

In addition to coaching, Allard is the Coordinator of The Mueller Center, Programs and Club Sports. He and his wife, Christine, have a son, Gregory, and live in Averill Park.