Former Davidson Football Coach Homer Smith was an Innovator and 'Renaissance Man'
4/11/2011 3:24:57 PM | Football
It's sad news for Davidson football, for all who knew Homer Smith, and for the entire community of college football.
The head football coach at Davidson from 1965-69, Smith, 78, died the morning of April 10, 2011, at his home in Tuscaloosa, Ala., after a long fight with cancer.
Smith's coaching brilliance and innovative offensive mind led the Wildcats to the Tangerine Bowl in 1969. His two primary quarterbacks at Davidson – Jimmy Poole and Gordon Slade – were as different as the mountains are to the sea. Poole was small at 5-foot-9. He was an accurate passer with good savvy. Smith immersed him in his passing game – which he termed pitch-and-catch – and Poole excelled to the point that he was named All-Southern Conference.
Slade was big, strong, athletic and had a cannon. Smith coached him differently than he did Poole but with equal success for the individual and the team.
Smith was years ahead of the standard when it came to offensive football. He spread the field with his creative formations and got all kinds of one-on-one match-ups against defenses that became befuddled trying to figure out his schemes. He coached his receivers how to get open and his quarterbacks to put the ball on their numbers on time and before the defense knew what hit them.
Smith lived his life the way he coached his football players, leaving little to chance. Preparation was paramount for him. Precision and organization went hand-in-hand. He had my family and I to his Davidson house on Grey Road in the summer of 1966 when I was considering a job offer from Davidson. He grilled hamburgers outside, and when his wonderful and lovely wife, Kathy, asked how long it would be before the burgers were done, Smith looked at his watch, studied it for 30 seconds or so and replied, “Kathy, I will have the meat in the house in exactly seven minutes, 20 seconds.”
Could anyone be that precise? I thought. As I got to know Homer over the years, yes, someone indeed could.
In addition to being a brilliant football coach, Smith was a student of military history, theology, an excellent pilot, superb golfer and smarter than the Library of Congress. He didn't lose many debates and never lost his civility. He graduated with honors from Princeton in 1954 where he also made All-East and All-Ivy League as a fullback. He earned his MBA from Stanford where he also studied the passing game from the legendary Jack Curtis. He later received a master's degree from Harvard in theology.
One of the men he studied closely was General Erwin Rommel, known as the “Desert Fox,” who led German tank divisions in World War II and once advanced his troops an astounding 150 miles in one day. As a general in wartime, Rommel was bold, full of surprises and a risk-taker, which pretty accurately summarizes the way Smith coached his football offenses.
Like most good leaders, Smith recognized the value of having good people around him. He put together a hall of fame coaching staff at Davidson, which included Dave Fagg, Dick Tomey, Warner Alford, Bob Brown, Ken Blair, trainer Tom Couch and others. In preparing for a big game against The Citadel, Smith fell back on his love of military history when he told Fagg, his defensive coordinator, “Dave, I commission you to stop The Citadel.” The Wildcats beat a powerful Citadel team the next Saturday, 14-7.
In addition to his Davidson football tenure, Smith served as head coach at College of Pacific and Army, as well as offensive coordinator on two occasions at Alabama and
UCLA and for the NFL Kansas City Chiefs.
“We've lost a good man, a brilliant coach, and we'll all miss him,” Fagg said.
A member of the Davidson College Athletics Hall of Fame, Smith was a gifted writer who authored several books on football and theology. He is survived by his wife Kathy and daughters Kim and Cari.
Smith's time at Davidson helped provide the Wildcats with what might well be the most glorious era in the school's athletic history. Smith directed the football program with style and skill, and just down the hall in old Johnston Gym was head basketball coach Lefty Driesell.
William Rikard, Jr., a current member of Davidson's Board of Trustees, is just one of many who benefited from Smith's coaching. A gifted wide receiver who wore Davidson jersey number 86, Rikard asked me about Smith recently and added, “He was a genius at coaching offensive football and years ahead of his time.”
He was indeed. If there's such a thing as a football coach and a Renaissance man, it had to be Homer Smith.
The head football coach at Davidson from 1965-69, Smith, 78, died the morning of April 10, 2011, at his home in Tuscaloosa, Ala., after a long fight with cancer.
Smith's coaching brilliance and innovative offensive mind led the Wildcats to the Tangerine Bowl in 1969. His two primary quarterbacks at Davidson – Jimmy Poole and Gordon Slade – were as different as the mountains are to the sea. Poole was small at 5-foot-9. He was an accurate passer with good savvy. Smith immersed him in his passing game – which he termed pitch-and-catch – and Poole excelled to the point that he was named All-Southern Conference.
Slade was big, strong, athletic and had a cannon. Smith coached him differently than he did Poole but with equal success for the individual and the team.
Smith was years ahead of the standard when it came to offensive football. He spread the field with his creative formations and got all kinds of one-on-one match-ups against defenses that became befuddled trying to figure out his schemes. He coached his receivers how to get open and his quarterbacks to put the ball on their numbers on time and before the defense knew what hit them.
Smith lived his life the way he coached his football players, leaving little to chance. Preparation was paramount for him. Precision and organization went hand-in-hand. He had my family and I to his Davidson house on Grey Road in the summer of 1966 when I was considering a job offer from Davidson. He grilled hamburgers outside, and when his wonderful and lovely wife, Kathy, asked how long it would be before the burgers were done, Smith looked at his watch, studied it for 30 seconds or so and replied, “Kathy, I will have the meat in the house in exactly seven minutes, 20 seconds.”
Could anyone be that precise? I thought. As I got to know Homer over the years, yes, someone indeed could.
In addition to being a brilliant football coach, Smith was a student of military history, theology, an excellent pilot, superb golfer and smarter than the Library of Congress. He didn't lose many debates and never lost his civility. He graduated with honors from Princeton in 1954 where he also made All-East and All-Ivy League as a fullback. He earned his MBA from Stanford where he also studied the passing game from the legendary Jack Curtis. He later received a master's degree from Harvard in theology.
One of the men he studied closely was General Erwin Rommel, known as the “Desert Fox,” who led German tank divisions in World War II and once advanced his troops an astounding 150 miles in one day. As a general in wartime, Rommel was bold, full of surprises and a risk-taker, which pretty accurately summarizes the way Smith coached his football offenses.
Like most good leaders, Smith recognized the value of having good people around him. He put together a hall of fame coaching staff at Davidson, which included Dave Fagg, Dick Tomey, Warner Alford, Bob Brown, Ken Blair, trainer Tom Couch and others. In preparing for a big game against The Citadel, Smith fell back on his love of military history when he told Fagg, his defensive coordinator, “Dave, I commission you to stop The Citadel.” The Wildcats beat a powerful Citadel team the next Saturday, 14-7.
In addition to his Davidson football tenure, Smith served as head coach at College of Pacific and Army, as well as offensive coordinator on two occasions at Alabama and
UCLA and for the NFL Kansas City Chiefs.
“We've lost a good man, a brilliant coach, and we'll all miss him,” Fagg said.
A member of the Davidson College Athletics Hall of Fame, Smith was a gifted writer who authored several books on football and theology. He is survived by his wife Kathy and daughters Kim and Cari.
Smith's time at Davidson helped provide the Wildcats with what might well be the most glorious era in the school's athletic history. Smith directed the football program with style and skill, and just down the hall in old Johnston Gym was head basketball coach Lefty Driesell.
William Rikard, Jr., a current member of Davidson's Board of Trustees, is just one of many who benefited from Smith's coaching. A gifted wide receiver who wore Davidson jersey number 86, Rikard asked me about Smith recently and added, “He was a genius at coaching offensive football and years ahead of his time.”
He was indeed. If there's such a thing as a football coach and a Renaissance man, it had to be Homer Smith.
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