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Loran SmithWrightsville’s Second-MostFamous Citizen by Robert Preston, Jr. photography by Jeff Davis |
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Loran Smith is well aware of his position: second. The native of Wrightsville and one of the most famous voices of the Bulldog Nation has no illusions of where he stands with the Bulldog faithful. “I may have equal billing with Herschel in my own family, but that’s about it,” he says, laughing. Loran is, of course, speaking of Herschel Walker, who also hails from Wrightsville. It was Loran who suggested that the University of Georgia take a look at Herschel back in the late 1970’s. The ‘Dawgs did, and liked what they saw. Little did anyone know – Loran included – that Georgia had signed a running back who would eventually become the greatest college football player in the history of the game. Herschel eventually re-wrote Georgia’s record book, and many of his records still stand 27 years after he last carried the ball for the Bulldogs. |
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As important as Herschel became to the University of Georgia, helping Georgia find the famous running back is but one of many contributions Loran Smith has made to his alma mater. When Loran enrolled at the University of Georgia, one of his top priorities was earning a letter. “I loved that block ‘G’, and I wanted one,” he remembers. Loran grew up on a farm in Wrightsville and began his education at Georgia in the College of Agriculture in etymology, but eventually pursued a degree in journalism. “I left etymology because it bugged me,” he says with a smile. Loran walked on the track team, and eventually secured a track scholarship. When named captain of the track team in 1960, he finally earned the letter he so desperately wanted. During that time, Loran became acquainted with Dan Magill, who remains one of the true legends at the University of Georgia. He developed a strong friendship with Dan, which opened a number of doors for Loran’s career. “Without a doubt, my biggest break was getting to know Dan Magill,” he says. As he attended classes at Georgia, he began to fall in love with the school and Athens. “I was overwhelmed by the campus and the college scene. I was smitten by the city of Athens,” he says. After finishing his journalism degree, Loran made an attempt at law school, but, as he puts it, “that didn’t work out.” It was unfortunate – it meant he had to leave Athens, which is something he absolutely did not want to do. Loran enlisted with the U.S. Coast Guard and served six months active duty before returning to Athens and the University of Georgia. He landed a job with the university and settled into life in the Classic City once again. In 1964, his big break came when he went to work running the Bulldog clubs with the athletic department at the same time as the young, untested head coach named Vince Dooley came on board. After holding a number of positions over the years, today Loran’s official title is Executive Secretary of the Georgia Bulldog Club, although most Georgia fans know Loran from his work on the Bulldogs’ radio broadcasts. Fans know he’s been a fixture at the university for decades. But they don’t know how close he has come to leaving − on several occasions. In fact, Loran did leave in 1970 to work in the Atlanta real estate market to better support his growing family. “I was miserable and came back in 1971,” he says. Loran not only turned down a position with the Dallas Cowboys, but also had a real opportunity to become the athletic director at Florida State University in the early 1970’s. “FSU never offered me the job, but I was told it would be mine if I wanted it,” he says. However, Loran wasn’t seriously interested in the position. At the time, FSU wasn’t the powerhouse it is today. Laughing, he says if he had known Bobby Bowden would eventually come to the school and turn things around, things might have turned out differently. Despite the opportunities that presented themselves, Loran decided to remain at the University of Georgia. He’s enjoyed an incredible career, and has witnessed some of the most incredible moments in college athletics along the way. The most indelible memory to the Bulldog Nation is the now-famous 1980 team that went undefeated and won the national championship with a 17-10 defeat of Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. While that is the most recent football team to win the national title, Loran stops short of calling it the greatest ever. “I think you’d have hard time convincing the older fans that the 1942 national championship team with Charley Trippi and Frank Sinkwich wasn’t one of the best. They won the national championship with a win in the Rose Bowl. That one was big. Sinkwich and Trippi are very well respected,” says Loran. However, during Loran’s time at Georgia, that 1980 team ranks as the best. “That was the most unselfish team. Herschel was the catalyst, but that team had tremendous leadership,” says Loran. He recalls senior linebacker Frank Ros as one of the key leaders on that team and “remains so to this day.” The defense, anchored by Ros and Scott Woerner, was one of the best ever. Buck Belue led the offense under center, and had two of Georgia’s most formidable weapons in Herschel and receiver Lindsay Scott. “They were a team of destiny. They had great chemistry and the heart that championship teams have. They established a tradition that other Georgia teams followed,” says Loran. The Bulldogs were contenders for the national championship for the next two years, losing a pair of heart-breaking Sugar Bowls to Pitt and Penn State, respectively. Then, in 1983, Georgia again factored into the national title with its shocking win against the undefeated Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl. “That was a special time. After those teams, the best were probably those that came along during the Greene and Pollock era,” he says. Because Loran has been so close to college athletics all these years, he has also become very familiar with high school athletics, particularly high school football. The high school game has changed tremendously over the years, a fact that has not been lost on Loran. “The players are bigger, stronger and faster than they used to be. The speed of the game is different, and I worry about high school players getting injured. The athletes today are outstanding. The starting offensive line at Athens High would dwarf the line of that 1942 national championship team,” he says. Yet, Loran believes the great players of the past could still excel in today’s game. “The great players would still be great. Trippi and Sinkwich weren’t exposed to weights or camps like athletes of today. They could play today,” he says. As important as football has been to Loran’s career, it’s not everything to him. He is a man of varied interests, and writes a weekly syndicated column that covers a variety of topics. Outside of football, his passion is golf, and he makes an annual trip to three of the four majors each year. Though he doesn’t play the game anymore, he hasn’t lost his appreciation for the beauty, history and difficulty of golf. “Augusta National in springtime is the most beautiful place on Earth,” he says. Throughout his career, Loran has had to overcome a number of challenges—for instance, he’s a cancer survivor. He has been a vocal advocate for research and treatment of the dreaded disease; Athens Regional Medical Center named their cancer treatment facility the Loran Smith Center for Cancer Support in his honor. Looking to the future, Loran doesn’t plan on slowing down. “My hero is Dan Magill. He’s 88 years old, still plays tennis every day and remains very active. I’ll never retire. I don’t know what the University of Georgia has in mind for me but I will always do something,” says Loran. • | |
January 2012
Robert Preston Jr. 
Micki K Photography 
