• 2015 CoSIDA Special Awards general announcement/release
• Special Awards feature story schedule
by Bill Dyer, Virginia Tech Associate Director, Athletic Communications
Core values. The Virginia Tech athletics department has put a new focus on these; Associate Athletic Director Dave Smith has always had them.
When speaking to staff members about Smith, these words keep repeating: loyalty, integrity, honesty, service, dedication, thoughtful, dependable, and accurate.
Smith, the school’s top athletics communicator, will retire June 1 after 40 seasons in Blacksburg. He will receive a CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming June CoSIDA Convention (June 14-17), taking place at the Orlando World Center Marriott.
From an inexperienced first-time sports information director at a junior college to a senior communicator at one of the premier universities in the country, Smith has seen it all and done it all.
Following his graduation from Virginia Tech in 1970, Smith took a job as the SID at Ferrum College, a JUCO not far from his hometown of Roanoke, Virginia. After a year there, the newlywed Smith took a “higher paying” job at the local
Franklin News Post. Through his years at that paper, Smith got to meet Wendy Weisend, the long-time SID for the Hokies. Weisend told Smith that if a job ever opened at Tech, he would give Smith a call.
That call came in the summer of 1975 and after a hurried interview process, Smith made his debut at Tech. Being part of a two-man staff, Smith did just about everything in the office, primarily working with the publications.
“Wendy was very big on professionalism,” Smith said of his mentor. “Integrity, honesty, hard-work, being fair. We worked hard for the writers, but he didn’t let them take advantage of him. Credibility was a big thing with him, and that came by being honest and fair with them. He was one of the key guys on the code of ethics and ‘no cheering in the press box’.”
After Weisend’s retirement, Smith got to work with Jack Williams, who was brought to Tech by incoming football coach/AD Bill Dooley. In many
ways, Smith and Williams were the perfect compliment to each other.
“Jack Williams was another influence,” Smith said. “I think the reason Jack and I fit so well together was that his strengths were my weaknesses and my strengths were his weaknesses. We blended in together really well. He was a really good person and very loyal.”
Anne Panella, currently the department’s director of publications, has worked with Smith for the last 35 years. She echoes much of the same language when speaking about Smith.
“We talk a lot about our core values right now,” Panella said. “Integrity is one of them. I think Dave personifies integrity.
“Virginia Tech will miss his professionalism. Dave has always taken pride in running a professional operation and providing a high level of service to the media. I’m going to miss just having someone in the office to go and talk to about things.”
Though known more recently as the leader of the department, Smith and others point to the fact that he spent many years as an assistant, a job he enjoyed and in which he took great pride. The loyalty to his superiors has always shown through.
“You can say staying somewhere 40 years, well, you don’t see that very often,” Smith added. “But the thing that I still snicker about is that 23 of those years, I was an assistant. Now, I think Nick Vista may hold the record, but that’s a long time. It never bothered me that I was an assistant. I think I was probably a better assistant than a director.”
Smith takes great pride in the work that he did, short-staffed, during the 1999 football season, when the Hokies played in the national championship game. He takes great pride in helping former students, interns and assistants advance in the business. And one particular day really stands out in his mind.
“I was proud of the day, in 1995, when we hosted the basketball game in the afternoon and then packed up and went over to the Sugar Bowl,” Smith recalled. “It was so challenging, but you were pumped up for the day. The Sugar Bowl was an unbelievable win and then celebrating New Year’s (Day) in New Orleans.”
Through the years, Smith has taken great pride in his profession and the people in it. Although not someone who has attended many conventions, Smith has made it a priority for his staff to become involved in the profession, especially CoSIDA.
“I think the camaraderie of the profession is so important,” Smith said. “We’re all doing the same thing. There are lots of people who will help you. It’s a unique profession.”
The process of cleaning out the office has begun. The position has been posted and soon Smith will begin the task of working with his replacement on making a smooth transition. After all, that is the right thing to do.
“I’ll miss the people,” Smith concluded. “Not only the people here, but the people at the other schools and the media. I love the place. I’ve been blessed and I’ve had a chance to do I job I love at a place I love with people I love.”