When Williams was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2016[4] after an 8-year NFL career, he credited Lee as being a key factor in his success.
In 1973, Lee was hired as an assistant football coach at Northwest Missouri State where he spent the 1973 season.
Lee was the first black coach of a major sport in the history of Northwest Missouri State University’s league, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
During his tenure at Texas, the Longhorns played in 4 bowl games including the 1978 Cotton Bowl where an undefeated Texas team led by Earl Campbell lost to a Notre Dame squad led by Joe Montana in the de facto National Championship game.
Lee recruited many of the players that led the Texas to a 10-1-1 season, a win in the 1982 Cotton Bowl, and a #2 final Associated Press national ranking.
After the 1981 season and one year as an assistant coach, Lee was promoted to a Bronco front office role as Director of Public Relations.
Smith had two major knee injuries during his college football career at Missouri Southern University that deterred most scouts from considering him a potential NFL player.