Lyle Smith
Sport(s) | Football, basketball |
---|---|
Biographical details | |
Born |
Steptoe, Washington | March 17, 1916
Alma mater |
University of Idaho, B.S. 1939,[1] M.S. 1946[2] |
Playing career | |
Football | |
1936–1938 | Idaho[3] |
Basketball | |
1936–1939 | Idaho |
Position(s) |
Center (football) Guard (basketball) |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
Football | |
1946 | Boise JC (assistant) |
1947–1950 | Boise JC |
1952–1967 | Boise JC |
Basketball | |
1946–1947 | Boise JC |
Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
1968–1981 | Boise State |
Head coaching record | |
Overall |
156–26–6 (football) (.846) 24–9 (basketball) (.727) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
Football 1 NJCAA National (1958) 13 Intermountain Collegiate (1947–1950, 1952–1954, 1956–1958, 1961, 1965–1966) |
Lyle H. Smith (born March 17, 1916) is a former American football and basketball player, coach, and college athletics administrator.[2]
He served as the head football coach at Boise Junior College—now Boise State University—from 1947 to 1967 (except for military duty),[4][5] compiling a record of 156–26–6 (.846). Smith was also the head basketball coach at BJC for one season in 1946–47, tallying a mark of 24–9, and the school athletic director from 1968 to 1981. Boise was a junior college program during Smith's coaching career; it moved up to four-year status in the NAIA in 1968, NCAA Division II in 1970, Division I-AA in 1978, and Division I-A in 1996.
Early life and playing career
Born in Steptoe, Washington, to Burrel F. and Addie (Humphrey) Smith,[2][6] Smith was raised in Moscow, Idaho, and graduated from Moscow High School in 1934, after leading the Bears to consecutive state titles in basketball.[7][8] He initially attended the University of Idaho's Southern Branch in Pocatello[9]—now Idaho State University— for a year and then returned to his hometown to attend the University of Idaho, where he was a two-sport athlete for the Vandals, a center on the football team under head coach Ted Bank,[10] and a guard on the basketball team, coached by Forrest Twogood.[11][12] His teammates at Idaho included future coaches Steve Belko[12][13][14] and Tony Knap.[15][16]
During Smith's senior football season of 1938, the team went 6–3–1,[3] the Vandals' best record in over a decade; Idaho's last winning season in football for a quarter century[17] and the best until 1971. Idaho was 2–2–1 in Northern Division play in the Pacific Coast Conference and undefeated in the four non-conference games, including a 16–0 shutout in the season finale in Salt Lake City over Utah, winner of its conference.[18][19] The Vandals broke to an early 3-0-1 start and there was early talk of the Rose Bowl in the national press.[20] Smith received a bachelor's degree in education in 1939 and embarked on a teaching career.[1]
Military service and coaching career
Smith taught and coached for a year at Firth High School in southeastern Idaho,[21][22] then married fellow 1939 UI graduate Maria Raphael[23] of Weiser in 1940 and returned to Moscow to work in private employment in auto sales.[21] He became head coach at Moscow High School in the spring of 1941[24] when Babe Brown crossed town to coach the Vandal freshmen.[25] Smith entered the U.S. Navy in June 1942 during World War II.[26]
Smith served primarily as a physical training instructor, and returned to Moscow and completed his master's degree in education in 1946.[2] He was to return to the high school as head coach, but resigned in August[27] to accept an offer to be an assistant football coach at Boise Junior College, and became its head coach the following year. Riding a 31-game winning streak in 1950, the team moved into a new 10,000-seat stadium. With the outbreak of the Korean War, Smith missed all but the first three games of the 1950 season[4] and the entire 1951 season due to military duty.[5] He returned in 1952 and was a leading candidate for the vacant job at his alma mater Idaho in 1954, but withdrew his name from consideration, content at Boise.[28][29] Boise won thirteen conference titles in football under Smith and the NJCAA National Football Championship in 1958.[2]
Administrative career and honors
Smith stepped down as head coach and became the school's first full-time athletic director in November 1967; the Broncos began competition as a four-year school in 1968.[30] He hired former Vandal teammate Tony Knap as head coach in December,[31] and Knap's successor Jim Criner in 1976.[32] Smith retired at age 65 in July 1981, succeeded by E. Michael Mullally of Cal State-Fullerton.[33][34] After just months on the job, Mullally resigned under pressure after a backlash at his new priority seating policy.[35][36] He was replaced in March 1982 by assistant Gene Bleymaier,[36] who stayed for nearly three decades. Smith was a key advisor during Bleymaier's first years as director.[37][38]
At the final regular season home game before his retirement as athletic director, the playing field at Bronco Stadium was dedicated in Smith's honor on November 8, 1980.[39][40] Boise State won the game over Nevada to secure the conference title and one of the four Division I-AA playoff berths in December. BSU won the opening-round semifinal over Grambling in Boise on "Lyle Smith Field" and the national title in Sacramento over Eastern Kentucky.[41]
Head coaching record
Football
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boise Junior College Broncos (Intermtn CAC) (1947–1950) | |||||||||
1947 | Boise JC | 9–0 | 1st | ||||||
1948 | Boise JC | 9–0 | 1st | ||||||
1949 | Boise JC | 10–0 | 1st | ||||||
1950 | Boise JC | 9–1 | 1st | ||||||
Boise Junior College Broncos (Intermtn CAC) (1952–1967) | |||||||||
1952 | Boise JC | 8–1 | 1st | ||||||
1953 | Boise JC | 8–1 | 1st | ||||||
1954 | Boise JC | 9–1–1 | 1st | ||||||
1955 | Boise JC | 7–2 | |||||||
1956 | Boise JC | 8–0–1 | 1st | ||||||
1957 | Boise JC | 9–1 | 1st | ||||||
1958 | Boise JC | 10–0 | 1st | ||||||
1959 | Boise JC | 7–2–1 | |||||||
1960 | Boise JC | 8–2 | |||||||
1961 | Boise JC | 9–1 | 1st | ||||||
1962 | Boise JC | 5–2–2 | |||||||
1963 | Boise JC | 5–3–1 | |||||||
1964 | Boise JC | 8–2 | |||||||
1965 | Boise JC | 9–2 | 1st | ||||||
1966 | Boise JC | 9–1 | 1st | ||||||
1967 | Boise JC | 6–4 | |||||||
Boise JC: | 156–26–6 | ||||||||
Total: | 156–26–6 | ||||||||
National championship Conference title Conference division title |
References
- 1 2 "Seniors". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1939. p. 78.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Lyle H. Smith collection". Special Collections. Boise State University. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
- 1 2 "Football". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1939. p. 300.
- 1 2 Ourada, Patricia K. (1994). "The Broncos: A History of Boise State University, 1932-1994". p. 97. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
- 1 2 "Boise coach returns to head grid post". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. August 8, 1952. p. 11.
- ↑ "Obituary: Burrel F. Smith". Lewiston Morning Tribune (Idaho). April 26, 1958. p. 6.
- ↑ "Nampa favored to win 2d title". Spokane Daily Chronicle (Washington). Associated Press. March 10, 1951. p. 8.
- ↑ idhsaa.org - Basketball - Idaho high school state champions - through 2011
- ↑ "Branch eleven to engage Colorado". American Falls Press (Idaho). November 11, 1934. p. 8.
- ↑ "Football: Lyle Smith". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1939. p. 309.
- ↑ "Two Vandal cagers fitted for glasses". Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington). December 31, 1938. p. 12.
- 1 2 "Basketball". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1939. p. 315.
- ↑ "Belko and Smith lead Vandal five". Spokane Daily Chronicle (Washington). March 23, 1938. p. 11.
- ↑ "Football: 1937 player photos". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1938. p. 179.
- ↑ "Idaho Vandals work for game". Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington). November 4, 1936. p. 15.
- ↑ "Football: 1938 team photo". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1939. p. 300.
- ↑ Johnson, Bob (February 1, 1965). "Dee Andros named Oregon State grid coach". Spokane Daily Chronicle (Washington). p. 15.
- ↑ "Idaho machine rolls over Utah". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. November 25, 1938. p. 11.
- ↑ "Idaho results: (1935-1939)". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
- ↑ "Idaho in Rose Bowl? It surely can happen". Milwaukee Journal. UPI. October 21, 1938. p. 9.
- 1 2 "Idaho man conducts at Hollywood Bowl". Spokane Daily Chronicle (Washington). July 9, 1940. p. 3.
- ↑ "Merle Stoddard will be coach". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Associated Press. August 29, 1940. p. 14.
- ↑ "Seniors". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1939. p. 77.
- ↑ "Moscow High School gets bear cub for mascot". Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington). August 31, 1941. p. 2B.
- ↑ "Babe Brown to coach freshman at university". Lewiston Morning Tribune (Idaho). Associated Press. March 25, 1941. p. 8.
- ↑ "Lyle Smith receives notification from navy". Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington). June 12, 1942. p. 15.
- ↑ "Lyle Smith resigns as Moscow coach". Lewiston Morning Tribune (Idaho). Associated Press. August 14, 1946. p. 8.
- ↑ "Idaho plans thorough search for grid coach; Curfman out". Spokane Daily Chronicle (Washington). December 22, 1953. p. 12.
- ↑ "Boise football coach out of Idaho picture". Spokane Daily Chronicle (Washington). Associated Press. February 6, 1954. p. 8.
- ↑ "Smith appointed athletic director". Lewiston Morning Tribune (Idaho). Associated Press. November 8, 1967. p. 16.
- ↑ "Lions lose assistant coach". Leader-Post. Canadian Press. December 15, 1967. p. 31.
- ↑ "Boise St. hires UCLA grid assistant". Lewiston Morning Tribune (Idaho). Associated Press. February 14, 1976. p. 4B.
- ↑ "Mullally new A.D.?". Reading Eagle (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. May 12, 1981. p. 27.
- ↑ "Boise names director". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. May 13, 1981. p. C3.
- ↑ "Boise's A.D. quits over ticket furor". Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 2, 1982. p. 19.
- 1 2 "Boise sacks AD over ticket flap". The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon). UPI. March 2, 1982. p. D3.
- ↑ "Boise AD out". Spokane Chronicle (Washington). March 2, 1982. p. 14.
- ↑ Cripe, Chadd (September 8, 2011). "Quiet exit: Gene Bleymaier closes career as Boise State athletic director". Retrieved August 29, 2012.
- ↑ Boise State Broncos game day program - 1980-11-08 - Dedication of Lyle Smith Field - p. 8
- ↑ "If Reno beats Boise State, there will be a mad scramble for Big Sky title". Lewiston Morning Tribune (Idaho). Associated Press. November 7, 1980. p. 3B.
- ↑ "Boise State results: (1980-1984)". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
External links
- Sports Illustrated - Boise State's rise is astonishing, but it didn't happen overnight - 2010-09-06
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