Lovie L. Smith

Lovie Smith, a football standout from Big Sandy, Texas, finished high school with a graduating class of 34 students and headed to The University of Tulsa with little more than an athletic scholarship and high hopes.

“You have a fairytale dream about how you want your life to play out,” said Smith (BS ’80). “My plan was to go to Tulsa, get my degree, play professional football and eventually become a coach.” Injuries left him on the sidelines after college, but that’s exactly where he was meant to be. “I was disappointed when my pro career didn’t work out, so I turned to coaching sooner than I expected. … Every step along the way, I liked it a little more than I thought.”

It turns out he was as good at coaching as he was at playing the game he loves. Smith worked up the ranks from football coach at Big Sandy High School to linebacker coach at TU to defensive back coach at Ohio State to head coach of the Chicago Bears, with notable stops in between. He took the Bears all the way to Super Bowl XLI.

“I’ve been blessed with many awards, but there’s nothing like being recognized by the place where you got your start,” Smith said of his TU Distinguished Alumnus honor.

Golden Hurricane coaches like F.A. Dry, Bob Junko (BS ’69, MS ’73), Larry Marmie and John Cooper served as role models.

“At TU, I learned that people will help you if you help yourself,” he said. Others on campus also made a difference. Michael Davis, then-department chairman for physical education and recreation, offered to co-sign a car loan for Smith after graduation. “You can’t ask for much more than what they did for us,” he said.

Smith credits TU with playing a big role in his personal life, too. “At Tulsa, I didn’t see much I didn’t like. I loved that it was a small campus with not too many students. I knew that it was a place I would call home,” he said. “I also was hoping that I would meet my future wife.”

In fact, Smith’s life as a single man ended even more quickly than his football career when he agreed to go on a blind date with a TU coed from Chicago. “I saw MaryAnne (Ford) for the first time that night. I went home and told my roommate that she was the one I was going to marry,” he said. “I knew I would spend the rest of my life with her.” The two were wed in Sharp Chapel. Today, Lovie and MaryAnne (BS ’81) have three sons and eight grandchildren.

Together, they founded the Lovie and MaryAnne Smith Foundation. “We thought about the best way to give back. For me, it was college scholarships. No one can take my TU degree away from me,” said Smith. The family also generously shares their resources with the American Diabetes Association and Ronald McDonald House.

All of this charitable work is no indication that Smith is easing into retirement. Quite the contrary, he is taking a year off and readying himself for his next coaching job. “I still have the desire to lead my team to a world championship, to hold up a Lombardi Trophy,” he said, adding that his mother once told him she had a dream that he would win a Super Bowl. “My mother always had a direct line to God,” he said, grinning.

Maybe there’s at least one more happy ending to Smith’s fairytale.