Courtesy of Utah
LAS VEGAS—History was made tonight for the University of Utah football program, as Alex Smith became the first former Utes student-athlete to be officially inducted into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024. The induction ceremony took place during the 66th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino.
Smith is one of 19 former players, joined by three coaches, in the Class of ’24, and expressed his great pride for representing his alma mater with this prestigious honor.
“It’s overwhelming,” Smith said earlier on Tuesday about being the first Utah player inducted. “I’m so humbled to be here, to be sitting on this stage. When I grew up, when it came to football, I loved Saturdays way more than Sundays. That’s to say that I loved college football. To be sitting here with so many of those greats that I grew up idolizing, and to get to go to Utah—and to think about what I looked like as an 18-year-old when I stepped foot on that campus—and to be here now, on the eve of entering the College Football Hall of Fame, it really speaks to the power of an amazing team.”
Smith is also a member of the Utah Athletics Hall of Fame (2021) and the Academic All-America Hall of Fame (2020), and was the Utah Football program’s inaugural member of the Ring of Honor, announced in August 2024. He joins former Utah head coach Ike Armstrong as the only two Utah Football entrants into the College Football Hall of Fame. Armstrong, the all-time winningest head coach in Utah history (141-55-15) until being surpassed by current head coach Kyle Whittingham in 2021, was part of the NFF’s Class of 1957.
“I’m so grateful for the amazing coaches—I had a plethora of Hall of Fame coaches in college,” Smith said. “Obviously the timing with Urban Meyer, and Dan Mullen, and Mike Sanford was here, and Kyle Whittingham were all on that staff, and obviously amazing teammates. I just happened to be lucky enough to be the quarterback of a truly historic team and I certainly hope my teammates know that they’re a part of this with me.”
As a Ute, Smith was a first-team All-American and a Heisman Trophy Finalist in 2004, finishing his collegiate career with 5,203 passing yards and 47 touchdowns, adding 1,072 rushing yards and 15 rushing scores. He was a two-time All-Mountain West selection, earning MW Offensive Player of the Year and National Player of the Year by Sports Illustrated in his final season with the Utes.
“It’s not just the game, but certainly the people that I was fortunate enough to play with,” Smith added. “My teammates, the accountability and the life lessons that it teaches, certainly a lot of struggle, too, is part of it, and being able to persevere and push through is so much easier when you do it together with teammates and coaches. There are so many things, now, as I transition away from the game that I’ll take with me forever. Lessons learned, and those small moments in the locker, such a special bond that I’ll always cherish.”
Smith’s place in the College Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 was announced on Jan. 8, 2024. Read more about Smith’s illustrious career here.
