Crook Smith

Crook Smith

Biographical details
Born	(1899-03-21)March 21, 1899 Fayetteville, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	March 3, 1990(1990-03-03) (aged 90) Fayetteville, Tennessee, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1921–1924	Mercer
Basketball
1921–1924	Mercer
Position(s)	End (football) Forward (basketball)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1926–1928	Dalton HS (GA)
1929–1942	South Georgia Teachers / Georgia Teachers
Basketball
1926–1929	Dalton HS (GA)
1930–1942	South Georgia Teachers / Georgia Teachers
Baseball
1927–1929	Dalton HS (GA)
1933–1935	South Georgia Teachers
Track and field
1926–1929	Dalton HS (GA)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1926–1929	Dalton HS (GA)
Head coaching record
Overall	44–63–7 (college football) 116–60 (college basketball) 32–20 (college baseball)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
All-Southern (1922, 1923) Mercer Athletics Hall of Fame Georgia Sports Hall of Fame

Byron Lambert "Consuello" "Crook" Smith (March 21, 1899 – March 3, 1990) was an American college football, baseball, and basketball player and coach inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1979.^[1] He played for Mercer, and, after a short career as a baseball player and umpire in professional baseball, he was the head coach for the Georgia Southern Eagles team of Georgia Southern University (then known as Georgia Teacher's College).^[2] He was later assistant pastor and director of young people's work at Immanuel Baptist Church in Savannah.^[3]

University of Georgia coach Herman Stegeman said Smith during his playing days was "without a doubt the best all-around athlete of the South."^[4]

Early life and playing career

Smith was from Fayetteville.^[5] He earned 13 letters in football, baseball, basketball, and track for the Mercer Bears. He was inducted into the Mercer Athletics Hall of Fame in its inaugural year of 1971.^[6] "Crook" was the older brother of Phoney Smith.^[7]

Football

Smith was a prominent end on the football team.^[8]

1922

He was selected All-Southern.^[9][10]

1923

He was selected All-Southern by Julian Leggett of the Macon News.^[8][11]

Basketball

In basketball he was a forward, and was selected All-Southern.^[12][13][14] He was captain of the basketball team.^[15] He played alongside George Harmon and Bob Gamble.^[16] Their team was the runner-up to North Carolina in the 1922 SoCon Tournament.

Coaching career

in 1925, Smith was appointed athletic director and coach of football, basketball, baskeball, and track at Dalton High School in Dalton, Georgia.^[17]

Smith coached South Georgia Teachers College–now known as Georgia Southern University—in Statesboro, Georgia from 1929 to 1942. His basketball teams compiled a 116–60 record.^[1][18] His 1937 football team lost the first game played in the Orange Bowl. His 1939 football team won the Bacardi Bowl.

Later life and death

Smith later served as superintendent of schools in Statesboro. He was a vocational rehabilitation counselor for the Savannah Department of Education prior to his retirement in 1967. He died on March 3, 1990, at a hospital in Fayetteville, Tennessee.^[19]

Head coaching record

College football

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
South Georgia Teachers / Georgia Teachers Blue Tide (Independent) (1929–1941)
1929	South Georgia Teachers	5–2–2
1930	South Georgia Teachers	2–3–2
1931	South Georgia Teachers	2–6
1932	South Georgia Teachers	6–2
1933	South Georgia Teachers	5–3
1934	South Georgia Teachers	4–5
1935	South Georgia Teachers	3–3–2
1936	South Georgia Teachers	2–8
1937	South Georgia Teachers	2–9
1938	South Georgia Teachers	3–5–1
1939	Georgia Teachers	5–5
1940	Georgia Teachers	3–5
1941	Georgia Teachers	2–8
South Georgia Teachers / Georgia Teachers:		44–63–7
Total:		44–63–7

References

1. "B.L. "Crook" Smith" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
2. Georgia Southern University. Arcadia. 2013. ISBN 978-1-4671-1040-2.
3. "Clipped from the Macon News". The Macon News. July 10, 1949. p. 9.
4. "The Palm of Alpha Tau Omega". [Champaign, Ill., etc.] October 1, 1880 – via Internet Archive.
5. Mercer University Bulletin. 1920. p. 203.
6. "Mitchel Tenpenny - Official Athletics Website". Mercer University Athletics.
7. Bryant, James C. (December 26, 1993). A Gift for Giving: The Story of Lamar Rich Plunkett. Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-86554-430-7 – via Google Books.
8. Robert E Wilder (2011). Gridiron Glory Days. Mercer University Press. p. 45. ISBN 9780881462678.
9. "Georgia Tech Has Four on All-Southern Team". Richmond Times Dispatch. December 10, 1922.
10. Cliff Wheatley (December 10, 1922). "Al Staton, Davis, Whelchel Frye, Roberts, Cobington, Bennett, Fletcher Picked". Atlanta Constitution. p. 3. Retrieved March 16, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "The Telegraph's All-Southern". Mercer Cluster. December 7, 1923. pp. 3, 6. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
12. "The Palm of Alpha Tau Omega". [Champaign, Ill., etc.] October 1, 1880 – via Internet Archive.
13. "Reference at dlgmedia1-www.galib.uga.edu" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 1, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
14. "Reference at static.soconsports.com" (PDF).
15. "Four mercer players get places on mythical teams" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 1, 2022.
16. "The Mercer Cluster. (Macon, Ga.) 1920-current, March 03, 1922, Image 1 « Georgia Historic Newspapers".
17. Jones, J. (August 3, 1926). "Crook Smith, Ex-Mercer Star, Will Coach At Dalton High". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 6. Retrieved July 15, 2025 – via Newspapers.com .
18. Delma E. Presley (September 30, 2013). Georgia Southern University. Arcadia. p. 91. ISBN 9781439644027.
19. "Deaths; Elsewhere; Bryon Lambert Smith". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. March 5, 1990. p. 8C. Retrieved July 14, 2025 – via Newspapers.com .