Elmer Smith | |
Birth Date: | 15 September 1907 |
Birth Place: | Casa, Arkansas, U.S. |
Death Date: | 1987 |
Player Sport1: | Football |
Player Years2: | 1927–1930 |
Player Team2: | Hendrix |
Player Sport3: | Basketball |
Player Years4: | 1927–1931 |
Player Team4: | Hendrix |
Player Sport6: | Baseball |
Player Team6: | Hendrix |
Player Years7: | 1931 |
Player Team7: | New Orleans Pelicans |
Player Positions: | Fullback (football) Catcher (baseball) |
Coach Sport1: | Football |
Coach Years2: | 1931–1932 |
Coach Team2: | Hamburg HS (AR) |
Coach Years3: | 1933–1935 |
Coach Team3: | Hendrix (assistant) |
Coach Years4: | 1936–1941 |
Coach Team4: | Centenary (backfield) |
Coach Years5: | 1946–1953 |
Coach Team5: | Magnolia A&M / Southern State |
Coach Years6: | 1954–1971 |
Coach Team6: | Texas A&M (assistant) |
Coach Sport7: | Basketball |
Coach Years8: | 1939–1942 |
Coach Team8: | Centenary |
Overall Record: | 54–27–2 (college football) 18–2 (high school football) |
Bowl Record: | 1–0–1 |
Championships: | Football 3 AIC (1948, 1951–1952) |
Elmer Smith (September 15, 1907 – 1987) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. Smith served as the head basketball coach Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana from 1939 to 1942 before taking on the head football coaching duties at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Arkansas from 1946 to 1953.[1] After leaving Southern Arkansas, he was an assistant football coach at Texas A&M University under coaches Bear Bryant, Jim Myers, Hank Foldberg, and Gene Stallings.[2]
Smith was born on September 15, 1907, in Casa, Arkansas, and graduated from Danville High School in Danville, Arkansas.[3] He was a multi-sport athlete at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, lettering in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field, before graduating in 1931 with a bachelor's degree in economics.[4] He earned a master's degree in physical education from Peabody College. Smith began his coaching career in 1931 at Hamburg High School in Hamburg, Arkansas, where he led the football team in a record of 18–2 in two seasons. He then returned to Hendrix as an assistant coach. Smith was hired at Centenary as an assistant coach in 1936, succeeding Elza Renfro.[5] He remained at Centenary until 1942, when joined the United States Navy, reaching the rank of lieutenant commander.[6]