{{Short description|American football player and coach (1889–1961)}} {{about||the American physician and amateur entomologist|Gideon B. Smith|the vocalist and band leader|Gideon Smith & the Dixie Damned}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox college coach | name = Gideon Smith | image = Gideon Smith.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1889|7|13}} | birth_place = Norfolk County, Virginia, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1968|5|6|1889|7|13}} | death_place = Salem, Virginia, U.S. | alma_mater = | player_years1 = 1915 | player_team1 = Michigan Agricultural | player_years2 = 1916 | player_team2 = Canton Bulldogs | player_positions = Tackle | coach_years1 = 1919 | coach_team1 = Virginia State | coach_years2 = 1921–1940 | coach_team2 = Hampton | admin_years1 = 1955–1958 | admin_team1 = EIAC (president) | overall_record = 104–46–13 | bowl_record = | tournament_record = | championships = 5 CIAA (1922, 1925–1926, 1928, 1931) | awards = | coaching_records = }} '''Gideon Edward Smith''' (July 13, 1889 – May 6, 1968), sometimes referred to as '''G. E. Smith''', was an American football player and coach.
Smith played college football at Michigan Agricultural College (MAC), now known as Michigan State University, from 1913 to 1915. He was the first African-American varsity athlete in any sport at MAC.<ref>{{cite web|title=Celebrating the Legacy of Gideon Smith|date=October 15, 2013|work=MSUSpartans.com|publisher=Michigan State University|url=http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/101513aae.html|access-date=January 7, 2015|archive-date=January 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130084023/http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/101513aae.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Smith also played one game of professional football while still attending MAC. He appeared as a tackle in one game for the Canton Bulldogs of the Ohio League, becoming one of the first African-Americans to play professional football. He played for the Bulldogs as a late fourth-quarter substitute on November 28, 1916, against their rivals, the Massillon Tigers. During that game he made a game-saving fumble recovery that preserved a 6–0 Canton victory over the Tigers for the "state championship." Smith was the last African-American to play professional football exclusively prior to the formation of the National Football League.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/release.aspx?release_id=1381|title=Charles Follis led early black pioneers in pro football | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rCnbhSRZpgIC | title=Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football | first=Robert W. | last=Peterson | isbn=0-19-511913-4 | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Early Black Professional |journal=Coffin Corner |publisher=Professional Football Researchers Association |pages=1–6 |url=http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/07-An-247.pdf |author=Joe Horrigan |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127041604/http://profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/07-An-247.pdf |archivedate=November 27, 2010 }}</ref>
After graduating from MAC in 1916, Smith became a teacher at the West Virginia Collegiate Institute, now known as West Virginia State University.<ref>Draft registration card for G.E. Smith, born July 13, 1889 in northwest Virginia. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line].</ref> He also served in 1920 as a teacher at the Virginia State College for Negroes—now known as Virginia State University—in Matoaca, Virginia.<ref>Year: 1920; Census Place: Matoaca, Chesterfield, Virginia; Roll: T625_1885; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 13; Image: 372. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]</ref>
In 1921, Smith became the head football coach at Hampton Institute, now known as Hampton University, in Hampton, Virginia.
Smith served as president of the Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (EIAC) from December 1955 to December 1958.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Friendship Admitted To EIAC; SCATS Grid Champs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-journal-and-guide/195651085/ |newspaper=Journal and Guide |location=Norfolk, Virginia |date=December 17, 1955 |page=19 |access-date=April 15, 2026 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Champion Scats' Joe Richie Named EIAC 'Coach of '58' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-journal-and-guide/195212742/ |newspaper=Journal and Guide |location=Norfolk, Virginia |date=December 20, 1958 |page=17 |access-date=April 9, 2026 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}</ref> He died on May 6, 1968, at Veterans Administration Hospital in Salem, Virginia, following a long illness.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Gideon E. Smith |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24789537/daily_press/ |newspaper=Daily Press |location=Newport News, Virginia |date=May 9, 1968 |page=50 |access-date=October 23, 2018 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}</ref> He was inducted into the Hampton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hampton University Athletics Hall of Fame: Gideon Smith|work=Hampton Pirates|publisher=Hampton University|url=http://www.hamptonpirates.com/hof.aspx?hof=11&path=&kiosk=}}</ref>
==Head coaching record== {{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Virginia State Trojans | conf = | startyear = 1919 | endyear = single }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1919 | name = Virginia State | overall = 5–1–1 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Virginia State | overall = 5–1–1 | confrecord = }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Hampton Seasiders/Pirates | conf = Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association | startyear = 1921 | endyear = 1940 }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1921 | name = Hampton | overall = 1–4 | conference = 0–4 | confstanding = 7th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = conference | year = 1922 | name = Hampton | overall = 6–1 | conference = 4–1 | confstanding = 1st | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1923 | name = Hampton | overall = 5–2 | conference = 4–2 | confstanding = 3rd | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1924 | name = Hampton | overall = 5–2–1 | conference = 4–2–1 | confstanding = 3rd | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = conference | year = 1925 | name = Hampton | overall = 4–1–1 | conference = 4–1–1 | confstanding = 1st | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = conference | year = 1926 | name = Hampton | overall = 7–0–1 | conference = 6–0–1 | confstanding = 1st | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1927 | name = Hampton | overall = 5–1–1 | conference = 5–1–1 | confstanding = 2nd | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = conference | year = 1928 | name = Hampton | overall = 8–1 | conference = 8–0 | confstanding = 1st | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1929 | name = Hampton | overall = 3–5 | conference = 3–4 | confstanding = T–4th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1930 | name = Hampton | overall = 7–1–1 | conference = 6–1 | confstanding = 2nd | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = conference | year = 1931 | name = Hampton | overall = 8–0–1 | conference = 6–0–1 | confstanding = 1st | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1932 | name = Hampton | overall = 5–2–1 | conference = 5–2–1 | confstanding = 4th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1933 | name = Hampton | overall = 7–1–1 | conference = 7–1–1 | confstanding = 2nd | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1934 | name = Hampton | overall = 3–5 | conference = 3–5 | confstanding = T–7th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1935 | name = Hampton | overall = 7–1 | conference = 7–1 | confstanding = 2nd | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1936 | name = Hampton | overall = 5–2–1 | conference = 5–2–1 | confstanding = 4th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1937 | name = Hampton | overall = 3–6 | conference = 2–5 | confstanding = 10th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1938 | name = Hampton | overall = 4–3–1 | conference = 3–3–1 | confstanding = T–6th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1939 | name = Hampton | overall = 3–3–1 | conference = 3–3–1 | confstanding = 7th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1940 | name = Hampton | overall = 3–4–1 | conference = 3–4–1 | confstanding = 10th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Hampton | overall = 99–45–12 | confrecord = 88–42–11 }} {{CFB Yearly Record End | overall = 104–46–13 | bowls = no | poll = no | polltype = }} <ref>{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |title=NCAA Statistics; Coach; Gideon Smith |url=https://stats.ncaa.org/people/29440 |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association |access-date=April 15, 2026 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Find a Grave}}
{{Virginia State Trojans football coach navbox}} {{Hampton Pirates football coach navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Gideon}} Category:1889 births Category:1961 deaths Category:American football tackles Category:Canton Bulldogs (Ohio League) players Category:Hampton Pirates football coaches Category:Michigan State Spartans football players Category:Virginia State Trojans football coaches Category:College athletic conference commissioners in the United States Category:Coaches of American football from Virginia Category:Players of American football from Virginia Category:African-American coaches of American football Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen Category:20th-century American sportsmen