Smith was the head football coach at Manual High School in Peoria, Illinois from 1973 to 1977.
By 1983, Smith was coaching the offensive linemen and helped guide the 1983 Illinois Fighting Illini football team to a Big Ten Conference title and an appearance in the 1984 Rose Bowl.
His 1987 squad shared the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) title and Smith was named the conference's coach of the year.
In early 1988, he resigned to return to Illinois and join the staff of John Mackovic, who had been hired to succeed White as head coach.
This biographical article relating to a college football coach first appointed in the 1980s is a stub.