An astute football thinker, the flame-haired Smith also possessed a fiery temperament which saw him skirt controversy on various occasions during his career. The most notable such occurrence took place in the middle of the 1965 season when, following a slump in form by the Demons which saw them lose 3 out of 4 matches after winning their first 8, he was sensationally - indeed, most would say precipitously - sacked, only to be just as sensationally reinstated a week later after the side had been beaten yet again. The whole affair clearly took its toll on Smith, however, and he would only once again - in 1970, at the fresh pastures of the Lake Oval - steer a side into the major round. Nevertheless, it is with the irrepressible Melbourne sides of the 1950s and early 1960s that his name has rightly become synonymous.
Smith's premature death in 1973 at the age of 58 robbed the game of one of its premier strategists, motivators and personalities.