Legendary Boyle County football coach retiring. ‘It’s been 19 wonderful seasons.’
Chuck Smith, whose two head coaching stints at Boyle County High School yielded six state championships, including five straight from 1999 to 2003, has announced his retirement.
“I think it’s just time. I don’t know if you’re ever ready. I feel good and feel like I could coach some more years, but I just think it’s time to take a step back,” Smith told the Herald-Leader on Tuesday afternoon after talking with his players that morning. “It’s been 19 wonderful seasons here at Boyle County, just unbelievable years. I think the players and the parents are really what makes this place special.”
The news was first broken by the Danville Advocate-Messenger’s Derek Brightwell on Twitter. WHBN-AM host Joe Mathis later confirmed via a quote from Boyle County Athletic Director Kyle Wynn.
“It was pretty emotional,” Smith said of his meeting with players. “They put their heart and soul into it and I put my heart and soul into it. ... I just told them that I was going to retire and they’ll just continue on with the success that we’ve had here. ... I’m looking forward to watching them continue to move the program forward.”
Smith guided the Rebels to the Class 4A state finals this year, a 21-20 loss to Johnson Central, and three of his players will sign their Division I letters of intent at a ceremony at the school on Wednesday.
“There is so much sacrifice, commitment and dedication to making this program great. ... I just feel lucky and fortunate to be able to coach here,” Smith said.
In a story by Mike Fields for the KHSAA after leading Boyle County to the 2017 title during his second run, Smith described his championship-building philosophy.
“It’s a lot of things,” he said. “You’ve gotta outwork people. You’ve gotta outplay people. You’ve gotta put your heart and soul into everything you do.”
That philosophy carried over to his son, Brandon Smith, who has won two state titles as the head coach of South Warren after a playing career where he quarterbacked his dad’s Boyle team to three titles and went on to play for Western Kentucky University.
In 19 seasons with Boyle County, Chuck Smith compiled a record of 211-45 with six state titles in eight finals appearances, both marks ranking him among the state’s all-time best. His 14-1 season this year pushed him past Great Crossing’s Paul Rains on the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s all-time wins list.
Smith’s signature run at Boyle County came in the 1990s as he built a powerhouse program alongside rival Danville and helped the community earn the nickname “Title Town.” Danville has 11 state titles to Boyle County’s eight. They both won titles in their respective classes in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2017.
From 1999 to 2002, Boyle County won 47 straight games, including three undefeated seasons.
After Boyle’s loss in the 2004 finals, Smith left to become an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky, his alma mater, where he remained until 2012.
The Rebels continued to have success during that time, capturing two more state titles under Larry French, a fact that Smith said helped his decision this time.
“The program is solid and the foundation is great. They’ll continue to be a successful program,” Smith said. “They’ve got some good football players coming up and great support from the administration and great parents that are involved and will work.”
After UK, Smith took a year off and was briefly named head coach at Madison Central in 2014, but left weeks later when the Boyle County job came open.
In three seasons, Smith had the Rebels back to their first state championship in seven years with a young team largely led by sophomores, including now seniors Reed Lanter, Reese Smith, and Landen Bartleson.
On Wednesday, Reese Smith will sign with West Virginia, Bartleson with Notre Dame and another senior, Wilson Kelly, will sign with Middle Tennessee.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 1:07 PM.
