When Stephanie and I were married back on May 30, 1992, we had a videographer record the event, including video facing the guests sitting in the sanctuary. In the back, you can see this little blonde headed boy, pretty restless, standing up in his dad's lap, I guess trying to see.... or, trying to leave the wedding!

 

About 7 years later, that same little boy and his dad drove to Maysville. That little boy, his dad, Dustin Grutza, Ty Sargent & myself, all went to this quarterback camp in southern Ohio. None of these guys were in HS yet. As it turned out, this little boy, Ty, & Dustin all became very good quarterbacks and football players. They are also three of the best guys you could meet and vey successful adults.

 

Then, in 2005, that SAME little blonde headed young man was the QUARTERBACK for me when I coached the Kentucky All Stars versus Tennessee. It was sort of weird, because the year before, Dustin Grutza(who I had coached at Mason County) had been the Kentucky QB versus Tennessee. Like Dustin, the little blonde headed boy lead us to a win over Tennessee. But, what I remember the most, was standing on the field with him and our offensive coordinator, Chris Pardue. It was a timeout near the end of the game and we were ahead 41-27. I said, "Let's run the clock out and make sure we win." The little blonde headed guy says, "I want to score again." We finished the game with bench-clearing near brawl. I hate to admit it, but it was sort of fun.

 

Well, that little blonde headed kid in the back of the church just won his first state championship as the head football coach at South Warren HS. And, he is still really young! His name is Brandon Smith. He played QB for his dad, Chuck Smith, at Boyle County.

 

Now, Chuck is still a GREAT football coach and a legend. But, I think it is safe to say, everyday he becomes less and less, Chuck Smith, and is becoming BRANDON SMITH'S DAD. And, my guess is that Chuck is ok with that.

 

Congratulations to Coach Brandon Smith. Looks like that little guy in the back of the church turned out pretty good!

 

BlackShoes&WhiteShoeStrings: The blonde headed kid in the back of the church

Good stuff Chief :ylsuper:

That's a fantastic piece Chief.

Fun story and well done.

Awesome thread....kudos!!:ylsuper::thumb:

Nothing against coach smith but I think I would rather be Dustin Grutza right now.

 

Former UC quarterback wants to get you a job

I wonder if he would let his blond haired QB talk him into running the score up ?

That was an awesome read ChiefSmoke!

Good stuff ChiefSmoke. These kind of stories, I imagine, is what makes coaching worth the investment and sacrifices.

 

The younger Coach Smith has done a phenomenal job with South Warren, they were running like a well oiled machine on Sunday. I'm impressed.

 

The older Coach Smith scares me to death. lol We stayed at the same hotel this weekend, and I saw him at breakfast two mornings. He was having his breakfast, talking with other coaches, etc. and I sat there wanting to go over and say Hi, maybe tell him congratulations for Brandon's win. But as much as I wanted to, everything I could think to say just sounded inadequate. I mean, this is Chuck Smith, and I am just a nobody with a Belfry shirt on. In the end I chickened out but I did make eye contact and give him a nod once. He probably thought I was some kind of stalker.

....very cool read.

Good stuff ChiefSmoke. These kind of stories, I imagine, is what makes coaching worth the investment and sacrifices.

 

The younger Coach Smith has done a phenomenal job with South Warren, they were running like a well oiled machine on Sunday. I'm impressed.

 

The older Coach Smith scares me to death. lol We stayed at the same hotel this weekend, and I saw him at breakfast two mornings. He was having his breakfast, talking with other coaches, etc. and I sat there wanting to go over and say Hi, maybe tell him congratulations for Brandon's win. But as much as I wanted to, everything I could think to say just sounded inadequate. I mean, this is Chuck Smith, and I am just a nobody with a Belfry shirt on. In the end I chickened out but I did make eye contact and give him a nod once. He probably thought I was some kind of stalker.

 

In my experience Chuck is really cool and I bet he would have surprised you.

In my experience Chuck is really cool and I bet he would have surprised you.

Probably would. I just was a little intimidated, which is unusual for me because I am a people person and I will talk to a tree.

 

I actually sat beside him at Boyle's 2011 title game against Allen Co Scottsville. Coach Smith was coaching at UK then, he was very nice, but not really talkative. Lamar Dawson was LB on that team and we talked a little about him going to USC and what a special player he was. Still, he made me nervous, lol.

He wanted to run up the score on Tennessee, huh?

 

Thank you guys. This one was fun to write. Sort of crazy how things work out.

 

Merry Christmas!

Brandon is my third favorite Rebel of all time. I always enjoyed watching him play and I couldn't be happier for his success as a coach now. This is an awesome story!