SCOOBA, MISSISSIPPI — East Mississippi Community College’s 2026 Alumnus of the Year, Lester Smith, was recognized on Saturday, Oct. 3 at an alumni reception in the F.R. Young Student Union on EMCC’s Scooba campus and again later that day on Sullivan-Windham Field during halftime of the Homecoming football game against Northeast Mississippi Community College

Smith, a standout signal-caller on the late Coach Bob “Bull” Sullivan’s 1962 East Mississippi Junior College football team, is a veteran high school football coach, teacher and administrator whose career spanned 43 years.

Smith, a resident of Foley, spent 41 of those years in the Baldwin County public school system.

He won numerous accolades along the way, including winningest football coach in Baldwin County history and Top 15 Coaches in Alabama (1980s). He is a four-time winner of Area and Regional Football Coach of the Year.

Smith was inducted into EMCC’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and in the Alabama High School Athletic Association Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

He is also an inductee into the Baldwin County Coaches Hall of Fame, the Baldwin County Middle School Athletic Hall of Fame and the Foley High School Hall of Fame.

In October of 2022, the field at Foley High School’s Ivan Jones Stadium was named the Lester Smith -- Bud Pigott Field in honor of Smith and his longtime defensive coordinator during a ceremony prior to a home game at the school.

“I’ve had a great career as a teacher, coach and administrator,” Smith said. “I love education and the experience of working with kids and being part of their lives.”

Smith was well known in Alabama football circles during his high school years when, as quarterback, he led Foley High School’s 1961 team to an undefeated (10-0) season capped by a state championship, scoring 433 points and giving up only 6.

Sullivan was looking for a quarterback in early 1962. Smith had just graduated high school when one of Sullivan’s former players, who was an assistant coach at Foley High School at the time, recommended Sullivan take a look at Smith.

Sullivan traveled to Foley to meet with Smith and offered him a scholarship to play at what was then East Mississippi Junior College. At that time, EMJC players had to live in the school district to be eligible to play, so Smith’s parents moved to Columbus.

“It was a tremendous sacrifice on their part because I had three younger brothers that were enrolled in school at Foley, and they loved it there,” Smith said. “They had to give up their friends, and my dad had to leave his job at Wright’s Drugstore.”

Smith played for EMJC during the 1962 school year, earning All American honors while completing 204 passes out of 330 for 17 touchdowns.

“I had never seen anybody throw the ball like Lester Smith,” his former teammate and 2022 EMCC Alumnus of the Year Ronnie Carter said during a 2022 interview. “I said to him more than once, ‘Lester, you are the greatest quarterback I have ever seen in my life.’”

When his parents moved back to Foley during his sophomore year, Smith was ruled ineligible to play for the 1963 season.

Smith transferred to the University of Tennessee at Martin, where he stayed for two weeks, but he did not enjoy the experience. He called Sullivan, who said Smith could come back to EMJC on his old scholarship but would not be able to play ball.

Sullivan had Smith work with the 1963 Lions quarterback at the time, Bill Buckner, to help with his passing and offensive game.

“I really enjoyed that experience, and Bill and I became lifelong friends,” Smith said.

With help from Sullivan, Smith landed a scholarship to play football for Southeastern Louisiana University, where he set seven school records as quarterback during his two years there. Smith credits Sullivan for much of his gridiron success.

In 1984, Sullivan was featured in the longest sports article in the history of Sports Illustrated in a piece penned by Frank DeFord titled “The Toughest Coach There Ever Was.”

While some of Sullivan’s players have said his reputation was well deserved, many, including Smith, say there was another side to the legendary football coach.

“He had a love and empathy for his players,” Smith said. “He helped me a lot, and I don’t know how my life would have turned out had it not been for his help. I think quite a bit about the impact he had on my life. My time at EMJC was just a wonderful experience for me.”

While at Southeastern Louisiana, Smith earned a bachelor’s degree with a dual major in Sociology and History, with a minor in English, later earning a master’s degree in School Administration from Troy University.

After Southeastern, Smith taught at Hammond High School in Louisiana for under a year before returning to his alma mater of Foley High School as an assistant football coach under Ivan Jones, who Smith played for during his high school years.

Smith, who was 22 at the time, also coached baseball and taught five English classes at the school.

When Jones moved into administration two years later, Smith was named head coach of the football team at the age of 25.

“I wasn't dry behind the ears good, and I really wasn't ready for it,” Smith said.

The team struggled for the first two years, but once they gained their footing, the wins kept coming. In 1986, Smith, who was an assistant principal at the time, retired from coaching, with a record of 119-53-2 over 17 years as head coach, a record that still stands 40 years later.

He moved into a principal position at Foley High School that lasted for more than six years before accepting a position as athletic director for the Baldwin County Public Schools, where he also served as the director of human resources, and superintendent for the last few months before he retired in 2010.

During those years, while still serving as an administrator, Smith returned to coach at Foley High School in 2001 for four more seasons, bringing his overall record to 127-85-2. His 1977 team went 10-0 during the regular season.

Although he is retired now, Smith stays busy. Among other things, he helps his son, Keith Smith, who is the head varsity football coach for Snook Christian Academy, which is named after Lester Smith’s aunt, Marjorie Snook, who donated the 55 acres of land on which the school sits.

“I try to help him a little, working with the quarterbacks,” Lester Smith said.

Lester Smith is married to his high school sweetheart, Elaine, who was a cheerleader at Foley High School when Lester Smith was playing football there. In August, the couple celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary.

In addition to Keith, the couple has three daughters, Kim, Jill and Leigh, and 11 grandchildren.

Elaine Smith has an interesting story of her own.

All of her children had advanced degrees. At the age of 71, Elaine Smith decided she wanted to go to college and enrolled at Coastal Alabama Community College, where she went on to earn an associate degree.

At the age of 77, she graduated with honors from the University of Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies. She he is part of the Mortar Board honor society and was awarded the Alice Parker Award for Outstanding Work in Literature, Art and Society.

“I had always wanted to be a wife and mother and raise a family, and I did that, but my goal was to get a college degree because I was the only one who didn’t have one,” Smith told a reporter for an article posted to the University of Alabama’s News Center.

“I am so proud of her,” Lester Smith said. “She worked and worked and studied and studied. She really got after it. She not only got through it – she excelled.”