Carnie Henry Smith (January 29, 1911 – January 25, 1979) was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player and coach. Smith was the seventh head football coach at

Pittsburg State University Pittsburg State University (Pitt State or PSU) is a public university in Pittsburg, Kansas, United States. It enrolls approximately 7,400 students (6,000 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students) and is a member of the Kansas Board of Regen ...

Pittsburg, Kansas Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, Kansas, Crawford County, Kansas, United States, located in southeast Kansas near the Missouri state border. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and southeast Kansas. As of the 2020 United S ...

. He held that position for 18 seasons, from 1949 until 1966, compiling a record of 116–52–6. His teams won NAIA football national championships in 1957 and 1961. The football stadium at Pittsburg State,

Carnie Smith Stadium Carnie Smith Stadium (formerly Brandenburg Stadium) is the football stadium for Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. The stadium is nicknamed "The Jungle" (after the school's mascot, the gorilla), or "The Pitt." History Built in 19 ...

, is named in his honor. Smith starred as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

at Arma High School in

Arma, Kansas Arma is a city in Crawford County, Kansas, Crawford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,407. History Arma was founded in 1894. It was named for W.F. Armacost, an or ...

, and then played football and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. In 1944, Smith was working as assistant director of recreation at a

Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially ...

plant before he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

. After serving in the Navy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he coached football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

at Parsons Junior College—now known as

Labette Community College Labette Community College (LCC) is a public community college in Parsons, Kansas, United States. LCC's main campus is situated in Parsons and satellite campuses are located in Cherokee, Oswego and Pittsburg. The mascot of the school is Chris th ...

—in

Parsons, Kansas Parsons is a city in Labette County, Kansas, Labette County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 9,600. It is the most populous city of Labette County, and the second-most pop ...

. Smith went to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 1947, where he served as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

for the football team under

Pappy Waldorf Lynn Osbert "Pappy" Waldorf (October 3, 1902 – August 15, 1981) was an American college football player and coach. He received the first national collegiate football coach of the year award in 1935. Waldorf became known for his motivational coa ...

and earned a master's degree in physical education. In 1948, he was hired as the head football coach at

Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) is a public community college in Santa Rosa, California with an additional campus in Petaluma and centers in surrounding Sonoma County. SRJC is governed by the Sonoma County Junior College District. History F ...

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city in and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay A ...

. Smith died on January 25, 1979, at his home in Pittsburg, following a long illness.

Head coaching record

College football

Junior college football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Carnie 1911 births 1979 deaths American football quarterbacks California Golden Bears football coaches Kansas Jayhawks football players Labette Cardinals men's basketball coaches Parsons Cardinals football coaches Pittsburg State Gorillas football coaches Pittsburg State Gorillas athletic directors Santa Rosa Bear Cubs football coaches University of California, Berkeley alumni United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of World War II High school basketball coaches in Kansas High school football coaches in Kansas People from Cherokee County, Kansas People from Crawford County, Kansas Coaches of American football from Kansas Players of American football from Kansas Baseball players from Kansas Basketball coaches from Kansas Military personnel from Kansas 20th-century American sportsmen