Smith has been a resounding success since taking over at Glasgow in 2022.
He led the club to the European Challenge Cup final in his first season, delivered an extraordinary United Rugby Championship title success in his second, and while injuries took a toll last season, Warriors still reached the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup and the last four in the URC.
Smith has been linked with other jobs throughout the season – most notably the vacant Wales head coach position – and has done little to quell talk that he is seeking a fresh challenge.
“We really like all three coaches we have got on the men’s side and we would really like to retain them,” Williamson said.
“So those conversations are ones I am having now and will continue over the coming weeks. But when it comes to Franco specifically, he is a fantastic coach. He has done an absolutely incredible job and I really, really hope that he will be staying.
“I am actually delighted that he is getting approached and that people are talking about him as being a coach for other people because we want the best coaches in Scotland and it would be frankly pretty disappointing if no one was talking about someone as high quality as him.
“I think that we offer a consistency and a clarity of plan that he will be brilliant in and I am really hopeful that he will be with us.”
Smith is viewed by many as an obvious replacement for Townsend, but Williamson insists such succession planning has not been discussed.
“I don’t think that we necessarily should be looking at our coaching group and saying that we are creating the bench if you like to replace gaps when they arise at any level,” he said.
“I think that we just want to make sure in that moment that we recruit the person who is very best for that role.
“When we are thinking about how we create a pathway that is going to result in us being highly competitive in 2031 and 2035, or 2029 and 2033 for the ladies, we absolutely have to nail that in terms of the continuity around our coaching because that is what is going to breed confidence in our players.
“Having Franco here is an important part of that. But equally, I think Sean Everett has done a brilliant job at the back end of the season. I think he is very proud of the way that team grew and I am excited to see how he goes with a very young player group next year.”
