Lyle Smith - Boise, ID
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Wolfmoat
N 43° 36.117 W 116° 11.819
11T E 564810 N 4827977
Statue of Lyle Smith, the Father of Boise State Football. Located just south of Boise States stadium at the entrance of the Allen Noble Hall of Fame.
Waymark Code: WM1823H
Location: Idaho, United States
Date Posted: 05/14/2023
Views: 0
Lyle Smith was born on March 17th 1916 in Steptoe Washington. One hundred years later he would be on hand in Boise Idaho to see a statue dedicated to his decades of hard work building a football program.
Sculpted by Ben Victor this is a bronze statue on a stone base that stands nearly nine feet tall. Depicts Coach Smith kneeling holding a clipboard while dressed in a suit, fedora, dress shoes complete with cleats.
Lyle Smith graduated from Moscow High School in 1934 after leading them to back to back state titles in basketball. Eventually he would find himself back home in Moscow competing for the University of Idaho Vandals as a basketball guard and a football center. He would spend time as a naval physical traing instructor before ending up as an assistant coach of Boise Jr. College in 1946.
In 1947 Lyle Smith became head coach of the Broncos he would start his tenure with 37 consecutive wins. Coach Smith was at the helm of the Broncos football program from 1947 to 1967, with the exception of the end of the 1950 season and all of the 1951 season, when he again served his country as a naval physical training instructor. In his 20 years as coach Lyle Smith went 156-26-6, winning 13 conference titles and taking home the National Title in 1958.
In 1968 Coach Smith became AD Smith. As athletic director of the Broncos he saw the transition of Boise Jr College to a four year NAIA program in 1968 and a 1-AA program in 1978. He would retire in 1981 but not before he was honored by Boise State when on November 8th 1980 the field at Bronco Stadium was named Lyle Smith field.
Though no longer coach or athletic director Lyle Smith continued to be one of Boise States biggest supporters and was in the stands for the 2007 Fiesta Bowl triumph over the Oklahoma Sooners putting a exclamation point on the decades journey Lyle Smith helped guide us from Jr. College to national prominence.
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