A 40-year servant of Virginia Tech, Smith retired in 2015 following a tenure that saw him handle media requests and public relations campaigns for many of the Hokies' greatest student-athletes and teams. 
 
Smith returned to his alma mater in 1975 as an assistant sports information director working with Tech's men's basketball and baseball programs. In that position, he promoted All-American honorees Bimbo Coles and Dell Curry on the hardwood, along with Virginia Tech baseball's all-time wins leader head coach and now fellow hall of famer, Chuck Hartman, and 14 All-Americans.
 
In 1998, Smith became the football communications contact and oversaw all media inquiries involving legendary head coach Frank Beamer. He also navigated the promotion for Michael Vick's 1999 Heisman Trophy campaign, which saw the eventual No. 1 NFL Draft selection finish third in voting. Throughout his run as Virginia Tech football's media relations liaison, Smith saw the Hokies compete in 17 bowl games, including the national championship Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4, 2000.
 
Upon his retirement as associate athletics director in 2015, Smith was honored with the College Sports Information Directors of America (now College Sports Communicators) Lifetime Achievement Award. He also received the Distinguished Service Award from the Virginia Sports Information Director (VaSID) group for the promotion of college athletics and for working in the industry for a minimum of 20 years.
 
Most notably, Smith accomplished one of the rarest feats during his career – he earned the respect of those who worked in athletics administration, players and coaches, while also garnering the respect of the media for his professionalism.
 
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