Vernon Smith (American football)
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File:Vernon 'Catfish' Smith.jpg | |
Sport(s) | Football, basketball, baseball |
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Biographical details | |
Born | Macon, Georgia |
January 14, 1908
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. La Jolla, California |
Playing career | |
Football | |
1929–1931 | Georgia |
Basketball | |
1929–1932 | Georgia |
Baseball | |
1930–1931 | Georgia |
Position(s) | End (football) |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
Football | |
1938–1939 | South Carolina (ends) |
1940–1941 | Ole Miss (ends) |
Basketball | |
1937–1938 | Georgia |
Baseball | |
1934–1937 | Georgia |
1938–1939 | South Carolina |
1946–1947 | South Carolina |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 12–10 (basketball) 70–93 (baseball) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Awards | |
Football: All-American, 1931 All-Southern (1929, 1930, 1931) |
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College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1979 (profile) |
Vernon "Catfish" Smith (January 14, 1908 – September 29, 1988) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and military officer. A three-sport athlete at the University of Georgia, Smith was named to the 1931 College Football All-America Team as an end. After his playing days, he served as the co-head basketball coach at his alma mater during the 1937–38 season. Smith was also the head baseball coach at Georgia from 1934 to 1937 and at the University of South Carolina from 1938 to 1939 and again from 1946 to 1947. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1979.
Contents
Early life and playing career
Smith was born Macon, Georgia. His nickname of "Catfish" is attributed to a story in which he bit the head off of one as a 25-cent bet while a student at Lanier High School in Macon. He and a friend were fishing in Walnut Creek.
Smith played football at the University of Georgia from 1929 to 1931 and was named an All-American in 1931. In 1929, he scored all 15 points for Georgia in an upset of Yale—scoring one touchdown by falling on a blocked punt in the end zone and another by receiving a pass, kicking an extra point and tackling a Yale player for a safety. The game was the first-ever played at Sanford Stadium. Smith wore number 9. He made an all-time Georgia Bulldogs football team picked in 1935.[1] He was nominated though not selected for an Associated Press All-Time Southeast 1920-1969 era team.[2] Smith was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.[3]
Coaching and military career
After completing his Georgia career as a football player in 1931 (he graduated with a B.S. in 1933), Catfish Smith went into coaching from 1932 to 1941 and coached football at Georgia, the University of South Carolina and the University of Mississippi. He was also the head baseball coach at the University of Georgia and the University of South Carolina. He then joined the United States Army Air Forces, retiring in 1963 with the rank of colonel.
Honors
Smith's sports honors include induction into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1966 and in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979.
His military honors included the Legion of Merit, Air Force Commendation Medal, World War II Victory Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Air Force Reserve Medal and Air Force Longevity Medal.
References
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Cleveland 1935
Sources
- Charles E. Martin, I've Seen 'Em All: Half Century of Georgia Football, p. 57, The McGregor Company, Athens, Georgia, 1961.
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External links
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Template:1935 Georgia Bulldogs All-Time football navboxScript error: The function "bottom" does not exist.
- Pages with broken file links
- 1908 births
- 1988 deaths
- All-American college football players
- American football ends
- Georgia Bulldogs baseball coaches
- Georgia Bulldogs baseball players
- Georgia Bulldogs basketball coaches
- Georgia Bulldogs basketball players
- Georgia Bulldogs football players
- Ole Miss Rebels football coaches
- South Carolina Gamecocks baseball coaches
- South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches
- College Football Hall of Fame inductees
- American military personnel of World War II
- United States Air Force officers
- United States Army Air Forces officers
- Recipients of the Legion of Merit
- Sportspeople from Macon, Georgia
- Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)
- All-Southern college football players