By Darin Darin Hayes takes listeners on a captivating journey through the life and legacy of Andy Smith, one of college football’s most legendary coaches, known for his transformative impact on the University of California football program. Starting as a player in Dubois, Pennsylvania, Smith showcased his talents at Penn State before transitioning to an illustrious coaching career that would see him lead the California Golden Bears to unprecedented heights. Under his guidance, the team shifted from a rugby background to become a formidable force in American football, winning three national championships in the 1920s and earning a reputation as a powerhouse on the West Coast. Hayes delves into Smith’s impressive statistics, including a coaching record of 116 wins, 32 losses, and 13 ties, as well as his remarkable bowl game achievements, which include four national titles and five Pacific Coast championships.
The episode not only highlights Smith’s achievements and strategies but also emphasizes the cultural significance of his work, illustrating how he revitalized a struggling program and inspired generations of players and fans alike. Hayes offers insights into Smith’s coaching philosophy and the challenges he faced during his career, painting a vivid picture of a man dedicated to the sport and his players. As the episode progresses, listeners are encouraged to explore more about Smith’s life through Hays’ published book, ‘When Greasy Met the Wonder Coach,’ which further chronicles the intersection of two iconic figures in football history. The discussion culminates in a celebration of Smith’s enduring legacy, reminding audiences of the profound influence that great coaches have on the game and the lives they touch.
As the podcast wraps up, Hayes invites fans to join the ongoing conversation about football history by engaging with the Pigskin Daily History Dispatch on various platforms, emphasizing the importance of remembering and honoring the past in the ever-evolving world of sports.
Takeaways:
- Andy Smith is celebrated as one of the greatest college football coaches in history.
- He transformed California football from rugby to a powerhouse with multiple national championships.
- Smith’s coaching career included significant tenures at Penn, Purdue, and California universities.
- His impressive coaching record features 116 wins, 32 losses, and 13 ties throughout his career.
- The podcast highlights Smith’s remarkable achievements, including his Hall of Fame induction and Rose Bowl victories.
- Listeners are encouraged to explore the book ‘When Greasy Met the Wonder Coach’ for more insights.
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Transcript
In today's four minute drill, we're going to talk about one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, Andy Smith of the California Wonder teams.
Darren Hays:And it's call coming up in just a moment.
Narrator:This is the Pigskin Daily History Dispatch, a podcast that covers the anniversaries of American football events throughout history.
Narrator:Your host Darren Hays is podcasting from America's North Shore to bring you the memories of the gridiron one day at a time.
Darren Hays:Hello my football friends.
Darren Hays:This is Darren Hees of pigskindispatch.com welcome once again to the Pig Pen, your portal deposit of football history.
Darren Hays:And welcome to your four minute drill of this great gridiron legend, coach Andy Smith.
Darren Hays:Andy started off as a player growing up in Dubois, Pennsylvania.
Darren Hays:Played for the Penn State Nittany Lions in his first couple years of college after graduating from Dubois High.
Darren Hays:And then he was recruited to go to the University of Pennsylvania, the powerhouse at the time, to play for the Penn Quakers where he later would coach.
Darren Hays:He started his coaching career there and then we moved on to per Purdue University after some of the Quakers teams went a little sour.
Darren Hays:And then he left and got recruited by California who had played rugby in years prior to that just switched over back to American football.
Darren Hays:And Andy took and rebooted the entire program and most of California football itself to turn Cal into one of the powerhouses of college football, bringing the power to the west.
Darren Hays:national championships in the:Darren Hays:ainst Washington Jefferson in:Darren Hays:Smith's wonder teams had an overall record of 74, 16, 7 ties.
Darren Hays:And that's pretty remarkable for a team that just two years before he got there was playing rugby and had no experience of the players playing football.
Darren Hays:And so he did some tremendous work there.
Darren Hays:Now he was just outstanding as a player, outstanding as a coach, and fortunately lost them at a young age.
Darren Hays:His overall coaching record at all three schools, Penn, Purdue and Cal, was 116, 32 and 13.
Darren Hays:And he was 101 in bowls with four national championships and five Pacific coast titles.
Darren Hays:If you'd like to learn more about this exciting coach, why don't you join us for our book that's on Amazon.
Darren Hays:When Greasy Met the Wonder coach.
Darren Hays:The:Darren Hays:You can tell we're really excited talking about great coaches like Andy Smith that we even wrote that book on him, so make sure you check that on Amazon and check us out each and every day as we have something new in football history either on our podcast, our YouTube channel and pigskindispatch.com there's always something going on and we want to tell you about some great gridiron history, so join us.
Darren Hays:Until next time, everybody have a great gridiron day.
Coach:Peeking up at the clock, the time's running down.
Coach:We're going to go into victory formation, take a knee and let this baby run out.
Coach:Thanks for joining us.
Coach:We'll see you back tomorrow.
Coach:For the next podcast, we invite you to check out our website pigskindispatch.com not only to see the daily football history, but to experience positive football with our many articles on the good people of the game as well as our own football comic strip cleat marks comics, pigskindispatch.com is also on social media outlets, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and don't forget the Pigskin Dispatch YouTube channel to get all of your positive football news and history.
Coach:Special thanks to the talents of Mike and Gene Monroe as well, well as Jason Neff for letting us use their music during our podcast.
Sports History Network:This podcast is part of Sports History Network, your headquarters for the yesteryear of your favorite sport.
Sports History Network:You can learn more@sportshistorynetwork.com.