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The 1953 graduate of Centralia
High School started three years of varsity
football for A.L.
Trout. He played
tailback and called plays. Those three
seasons (1950, ‘51, ‘52) saw a combined
record of 17-6-1. During his Sophomore year, Coach Trout
announced that Smith and then assistant
coach, Jimmie
Evers, were the two best
passers he had coached. Smith also played
halfback on defense and his Senior year
averaged 41-yards punting and was extra
point and kick-off man.
In the summers between his high school
years, he played shortstop in the Washington
County Baseball League. He batted over
.400 for three seasons as his team was
league champion two years and runner-up one
year.
In 1953-54, Smith was sixth man on Art Allen’s
Centralia Junior College basketball team
that placed tenth in the nation. He also
played on the first CJC baseball team
batting over .400 while pitching and playing
shortstop.
1954 through 1956 saw Smith in the Army
(82nd Airborne Div.). While there, he was
the leading receiver on the football team.
He was the only player on the team not to
have played college football.
On the baseball team, he batted leadoff
(.379) and played shortstop on a team made
up mostly of former minor league
players. After his service time, Smith
played on the Centralia Merchants fast pitch
softball team that placed second in the
state tourney in Bloomington.
Upon graduation from Eastern Illinois
University, he returned to Centralia High
School in 1961. Over the next thirty-three
years, he would coach everything but golf
and tennis.
In 1967, Smith became only the third head
football coach at CHS following Trout and
Evers. Through 1979, he compiled a record of
71-47-4. His 1969 team was undefeated (9-0)
and was ranked tenth in the nation by one
magazine.
The
1974 Orphans (9-2) qualified for the
first-ever IHSA football playoffs in Class
4A (16 team field) making it to the
quarterfinal round. His 1977 team (7-3) also
qualified for the Class 4A playoffs. These
three teams were also South Seven Conference
champions.
He returned as head football coach in 1989
and had a record of 10-17 over three
seasons. Smith was also head baseball coach
1976 through 1980. His teams captured a
regional title in 1977 and a South-Seven
Conference title in 1980. His
five-year record was 73-59.
Leading up to and during his head coaching
stints, Smith was Sophomore football coach
six years (40-10-2), assistant track coach
ten years (under Evers and White), assistant
basketball coach at different times under
head coaches Davies, Jones, Roberts, and
Bogle, and was assistant wrestling coach
under Carpenter one season.
After retiring from CHS, Smith coached the
women’s basketball team at Kaskaskia
College from 1995 through 2001. Recruiting
only in-district players with only tuition
and book scholarships, he had a record of
74-133.
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