Mike Smart (Photo courtesy Dustin Van Velkinburgh)
The stats were impressive. But that’s not why he’s remembered.
Mike Smart racked up defensive numbers for Coupeville High School which let him stand shoulder-to-shoulder with virtually anyone who has ever strapped on the pads as a Wolf.
But it’s his presence in the huddle, on the bus, in the locker room, which remains with his former teammates 15 years after he played his final down at CHS.
The son of a coach, Gary Smart, Sr., and younger brother to Gary Smart, Jr., a very successful Wolf quarterback in his own right, Mikey is the lone member of the 61st class to be inducted into the Coupeville Sports Hall of Fame.
After this, you’ll find him at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.
The induction is posthumous, as Smart passed away at just 21, after a fatal car crash on Fort Casey Road in 2005.
He left behind a son, though, who, under the tender care of mom Kimberly (Bagarelli) Robinett, grows to look more like his dad with each day.
And he left behind a lifetime of memories for those who lined-up next to him on Friday nights at Mickey Clark Field.
Smart was a two-way warrior for the Wolf gridiron squad, a fullback and a linebacker, where he made his biggest impact.
During his senior season in 2001, he combined with Joe Kelley, a fellow Hall of Famer, to provide one of the most brutally-efficient defensive duos Coupeville has ever had.
Smart collected 119 tackles that season (Kelley had a school-record 142), earning team MVP honors and receiving All-League recognition.
He had the ability to turn games by sheer force of will, which is evidenced by a game at Concrete at mid-season.
Sparking a 31-17 Wolf win, Smart collected 12 tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss of yardage, forced a fumble and recovered another.
He topped out that season with 19 tackles against Archbishop Thomas Murphy, while chasing down Jevon Butler, the two-time 1A state player of the year.
But, as great as his stats were, it’s not the tackles or the fumble recoveries for which he is most remembered.
Dustin Van Velkinburgh, who graduated with Smart in 2002 after playing football and basketball along side him, is now a Wolf coach.
When he looks back and reflects on his friend, this is how he remembers him:
Mike always put a smile on your face. I absolutely loved that kid!
I remember him blocking for Ian Barron his junior year, getting run over again and again and never complaining.
He was tough as nails.
But he was also the kid who made you laugh all the time. There was never a dull moment.
He would do the Mikey Shuffle.
He had a white t-shirt that had been cut-up, had that shirt since he was a freshman.
It was yellow, dirty, he never washed it all four years.
He’d wear that, put his cleats and helmet on, nothing else, and tap-dance in the shower for us.
In the huddle Noah (Roehl) would get upset with us. “We gotta score now!!”
And then Mikey would tell him to shut up and make him laugh.
When basketball came around, we all showed up with our brand new Nike’s. We had the freshest gear.
Mikey walks in wearing an old pair of Chuck Taylor’s, didn’t care what anyone thought.
We used to eat Coach Smart, Mike’s dad, out of house and home … literally.
He’d come home and be, “What the hell?!?!”
Those memories are priceless. You can’t get those back.
I miss Mikey.
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