Post-retirement
Two years after his retirement in 1998, Smith went to work as a roving minor league pitching instructor for the San Francisco Giants. A former teammate, Dick Tidrow, and the manager of the Double-A Shreveport Captains, Jack Hiatt, offered the job to Smith, who gladly agreed, since it was right in his hometown. Smith still held this job with the Giants as of 2009.
In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, Smith served as the pitching coach of the South Africa national baseball team, which was given 20,000 to 1 odds of winning the tournament. In 2007, Smith participated as a coach in the second annual European Baseball Academy for Major League Baseball International in Tirrenia, Italy. The Academy provides instruction to young players from Europe and Africa, several of whom have signed professional contracts.
Lee Smith became the father of twins, Nicholas and Alanna, in October 2003. He also has three children from a previous marriage, Nikita (born c. 1987), Lee Jr. (born c. 1989) and Dimitri (born c. 1993).
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