GNAC Sports

Two Coaching Legends, 4,000-Yard Runner Added to Vikings' Best

Smith

Aug. 20, 2007

Two football coaching legends and an All-American running back are the newest members of the Western Washington University Athletic Hall of Fame.

The 2007 inductees are Rob Smith, the most successful gridiron head coach in school history; Terry Todd, who was an assistant at Western for 20 years, and Jon Brunaugh, who reached the magic 4,000-yard plateau in career rushing.

The trio brings the hall's membership to 109. They will be formally inducted on Sat., Oct. 6 (9:30 a.m.) in a ceremony at the Viking Union on the Western campus. They also will be honored at halftime of Western's football game that afternoon with St. Cloud State .

The 49-year-old Smith, who was recently named director of athletics at Grays Harbor Community College , stepped down from coaching following the 2005 season after accumulating 109 victories in 17 seasons as a head coach for a winning percentage of .640. Both figures are the best in school history. A total of 48 athletes earned All- America recognition during his tenure either as first, second or third-team or honorable mention.

Smith's victory total ranks third all-time among collegiate head coaches at the Pacific Northwest schools, trailing just Frosty Westering (Pacific Lutheran) and Don James ( Washington ).

Smith guided the Vikings to five national playoff appearances, his crowning achievement being a trip to the NAIA Division II National Championship game in 1996 when Western won a school-record 11 games. The Vikings advanced to the title game with a 28-21 semifinal victory at nationally No.1-ranked Findlay OH .

In 1995, Western had only the second undefeated, untied regular season in school history, and the first since 1938. The Vikings spent five weeks as No.1-ranked team in the country, finishing 9-1 and reaching the first round of the national playoffs where it lost to eventual national co-champion Central Washington .

Smith directed Western to the school's first national playoff appearance in 1992 and its first post-season trip as a NCAA Division II member in 1999.

The Vikings won six league titles under Smith, nearly half the school's overall total of 13. He was named Columbia Football Association Coach of the Year in 1989, 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2000, and Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2003.

Smith was named American Football Coaches Association College Division Region V Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1996. Honored as Western's Football co-Coach of the Century in 1999, he had a string of 12 non-losing seasons, also a school record.

Smith came to Western as an assistant in 1987, joining a program that was coming off its ninth straight losing season. Two years later, he became head coach, leading the 1989 Vikings to a 7-2 record, their best in 48 years, and the first national ranking in school history.

A graduate of Hoquiam High School , Smith scored a state-leading 20 touchdowns and had 11 pass interceptions as a senior in football and won a state hurdles championship in track. He was later named a member of the Grizzlies' Roll of Honor, joining his father and grandfather on the list.

Smith attended the University of Washington, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1981, lettering three years as a fullback and playing in the 1978 Rose Bowl. He was the first Don James-coached Husky to become a collegiate head coach.

Smith and wife Wendy have two children, daughter Alison 12 and son Jared 8.

Todd was an assistant for 20 years at Western, stepping down in 2005. As a Viking aide, he was part of six conference championship teams, five national playoff squads and coached six All-Americans - three running backs and three specialists. WWU's football inspirational award is named after him and he was a recipient of the “W” blanket award.

Among the six All-Americans Todd coached is punter/placekicker Michael Koenen, who is entering his third year as a member of the Atlanta Falcons, the first Western athlete to be a full-time player in the National Football League.

Todd's other All-America athletes were punter/placekicker Peter LaBarge, placekicker Wade Gebers, Brunaugh, running back Scott Lohr and running back Ryan Wiggins .

Between 1985 and 2004, Western had a string of five four-year placekickers coached by Todd. Sixteen times during that 20-year period, Viking kickers earned all-conference honors.

A local businessman, he and wife Kitty have three grown sons, Rock, Terry II and Rick, all Western graduates. Prior to coaching at Western, Todd spent 13 years as an assistant coach at Bellingham High School where he lettered three years in track and two in football for the Red Raiders. He also has been an assistant for two seasons at Squalicum High School .

Brunaugh finished his career as Western's record holder in rushing with 4,073 yards and was second in scoring with 254 points, being a third-team National Weekly Football Gazette and honorable mention NAIA All-American in 1995. He was a four-time, first-team all-Columbia Football Association choice, being a unanimous pick three times, and a four-time Little All-Northwest selection.

A member of the school's All-Century team, the 5-foot-10 running back had three 1,000-yards seasons, the only Western player to have more than one. He became the first WWU player to lead the team in scoring four times and just the third to top the squad in rushing for four seasons.

Brunaugh ran for 100 or more yards in 20 games, one short of the school record, and lost just four fumbles in 847 career carries.

In 1995, Brunaugh had career highs of 1,127 rushing yards and 80 points (13 touchdowns). He had a school-record seven 100-yard games, including five straight.

Brunaugh was bothered by an ankle injury most of the 1994 season, but still ran for 846 yards. He was named Offensive Player of the Game in a national first-round playoff game, running for 184 yards and two touchdowns.

In 1993, he ran for 1,036 yards and scored 10 touchdowns, including a school-record 91-yard touchdown run in a 220-yard rushing effort against Whitworth.

As a freshman in 1992, Brunaugh led the CFA in rushing with 1,064 yards and scored nine touchdowns, becoming the first Western player to be a league rushing leader since Pat Locker in 1979. He ran for a school-record 279 yards (37 carries) against British Columbia , being named NAIA National Offensive Player of the Week and Sports Illustrated small college Player of the Week.

Brunaugh was a first-team Class AAA all-state selection as a senior at Columbia River High School in Vancouver , Wash. , twice leading the state in scoring. He set career marks for touchdowns (44), rushing yards (3,600) and points scored.

Brunaugh, who received a bachelor's degree in business at Western, is employed by Alcon, which makes eye care products. He and wife Kim have two children, Madeline 2 and Abigail 3 months. His father, Jim, was all-star running back at Central Washington in the mid-1960s.

Western's Athletic Hall of Fame began in 1968.