Chuck Smith had a vision for Boyle County’s football program that he made come true

Chuck Smith was part of a state championship with South Warren last season.

I still remember 30 years ago when Chuck Smith decided to become the head football coach at Boyle County High School.

It was not a glamorous job but Smith was a young, enthusiastic coach who thought he could make a difference. He was the hardest working coach I think I had ever seen and was tireless when it came to working to build the program.

“It is so amazing what has happened with the program,” said Smith, who will be inducted into the Boyle County Athletics Hall of Fame Friday. “Most people don’t know unless they lived in Boyle County back then. The program was in bad shape when I took over. I had a vision for building a program and getting everything in place to compete for state championships but I am not sure how many people really believed we could do it.”

Smith believed and he did it. In 19 seasons as Boyle’s coach — he left for eight years to coach at the University of Kentucky and then had a year off before returning to Boyle — he went 212-44 and won six state championships. Two other teams reached the state final. He also sent numerous players to Division I schools.

Smith admits the biggest motivating factor early in his career was rival Danville.

“People might not realize it now because Danville has dropped off but back in the day Danville could beat anyone,” Smith said. “If you were going to exist, you had to figure a way to compete with them and you could not do that with a team. It was going to take a program to do that because Danville was one of the best programs in the state and were right here in town with us.”

“Fortunately I had a lot of good support with administrators and was able to get things into place that you need to compete for a state championship. I got the things you needed to do it but you also still needed the horses (players). I was lucky.”

Smith actually helped start the Boyle County Football Hall of Fame that he will now be joining — and considers it a huge honor.

“We started this because I wanted the names of the players and coaches, and even the contributors to the success of the Boyle County football program, to be remembered forever,” Smith said. “Now I guess it is my turn to go in. It’s quite an honor and is definitely something special. I really appreciate this opportunity.”

Smith is most proud of the sustained success the program has had. While he was coaching at UK, coach Larry French won two state titles at Boyle. After Smith came back and then retired, coach Justin Haddix took over and has won two state championships.

“The goal from the beginning was to make it a program. I wanted us to have a top 10 program in the state and now maybe it is top five,” Smith said. “You can’t do this by yourself. You might have the vision and dream but you have to have the support of people in power to get it done.”

Smith has helped his son, former Boyle quarterback Brandon Smith, coach since his retirement. South Warren has developed into one of the state’s top programs and won the Class 5A state title last year. He splits his time between his residence in Florida and Bowling Green so he can help coach.

“Once we are eliminated (from the playoffs), I am back to Florida,” Smith said. “This will be my first game at Boyle County since I retired. I am excited about that and seeing so many people that helped us do the special things we did.”