Jim Smith
progenitor
’80
MIKE SMITH
It’s a Family Affair by Bob York Normally, the only way you could find a dozen or more Smiths in the same place at the same time would be to look in the phone book. Sixteen of them showed up at Deerfield’s door in late September, however, and as is their custom, they headed straight for the football field. Jim Smith, the same Jim Smith who coached Big Green football for 36 years—and rang up a record of 175-88-12 while doing so—is the patriarch of this clan, and that explains why the family has shown up en masse on campus three times now over the past 17 years. Their first pilgrimage to the Deerfield plains was in 1995 to watch Mr. Smith coach his final game at Deerfield. Their second was in 2003, when they came to watch Deerfield’s home for football become Jim Smith Field. This past fall, the third such assemblage by the family, which now “includes 18 grandchildren . . . nine boys and nine girls,” according to a proud grandfather, was deemed necessary in order to watch grandson No. 2, Billy, make his debut for the Big Green. “It doesn’t get any better than this,” said a beaming grandfather after his second oldest grandson had proven to be a chip off the old blocks by logging in as a two-way starter as a tailback and defensive back during the first game of his postgraduate season. After all, Billy’s dad, Mike ’80, did the same while playing for the Big Green, as did uncles KC ’82, Danny ’85, Jimmy ’86, and Patrick ’91. And all five went on to enjoy successful football careers at the collegiate level as well. “He’s an outstanding athlete,” said Jim Smith of his grandson, who earned All-Western MA and All-Conference honors as a senior at Westfield (MA) High School. And, just like his dad and four
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uncles, he not only plays both ways on the gridiron, but also plays three sports: football, basketball, and baseball. “But more importantly,” added the elder Smith, “he’s an outstanding young man.” In another manner of emulating his father and uncles, “Billy was just the second three-sport captain at Westfield in the last 30 years,” said Mike, who, like his four brothers, was voted captain of all three teams he played on during his senior year at Deerfield. “I wouldn’t say I was nervous today but I sure did want to play well,” said Billy of his prep school debut on Jim Smith Field. “I just wanted my grandparents, my mom and dad, my aunt, and all my uncles to be proud of me.” Well, they were. During a lopsided 33-7 victory over Northfield Mount Hermon, Billy galloped for 92 yards on just two carries, registered four tackles, forced one fumble, and returned a pair of kickoffs. “It’s funny,” he said, “but I saw my younger brother out there on the field at halftime playing catch, and it brought a lot of memories back of how I used to do the same thing whenever we’d come up here to watch some of my grandfather’s games.” And the sight of his grandson decked out in green and white rekindled some memories in Jim Smith as well: “We’ve got a picture at home that was taken at my last game here,” he said. “It shows Mike’s two oldest children, Ryan and Billy, running toward the opposite sidelines. Ryan (who is now playing baseball at Gettysburg College) was the oldest, so he had the number one on his back, and Billy had number two. And everyone asked, ‘How soon until they’re playing for Deerfield?’ Well,” added Mr. Smith, glancing at his grandson, as a smile broke from ear-to-ear, “there’s your answer.”••
left: Jeff Brown; Deerfield Academy Arfchives
the common room
Billy Smith