In the house where he grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, a framed note penned by Navy senior offensive lineman Hoke Smith II as a middle school student still hangs on his bedroom wall.
 
As a sixth grader, Smith had been tasked with a writing assignment that predicted a piece of his future, specifically some defining aspects of his life six years later as a graduating high school senior.
 
Smith expressed two themes he was and remains passionate about – football and the Naval Academy.
 
On the day he graduated in 2022 from Vestavia Hills High School, Smith and his fellow grads re-read their words.
 
"It was a note that my sixth-grade self wrote to my senior self," Smith said. "I wrote things like 'You will be a [football] starter and a team captain. You will be an All-State player. You will be signing to play football at the Naval Academy.'"
 
Turns out as a young student, Smith truly knew where he was headed.
 
In fact, he became a two-time team captain of Vestavia's varsity football team, where he starred on the offensive line. As a senior, he was named Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 7A Honorable Mention All-State. He also started in the Alabama North-South All-Star Game.
 
And as a senior, shortly after he had completed his final high school season late in 2021, Smith indeed signed with Navy, where he is a two-year starter at right guard earning his fourth varsity letter.
 
As a Navy junior in 2025, Smith, listed at 6-feet-3, 317 pounds, had his best season as an interior line anchor for the Mids. He started 12 of Navy's 13 games and was a key factor in the Midshipmen's 11-2 finish, as Navy won its second straight Commander-In-Chief's Trophy and blew out Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl.
 
Those 11 victories tied for the most wins the Midshipmen have achieved in a single season.
 
With Smith's significant help, Navy led the nation in rushing, capping a combined historic, 21-5 record over two seasons.
 
Now in his final season, besides executing blocks consistently, mastering his knowledge of Navy's hybrid wing T offense like an extra coach and being a tough, smart, charismatic team leader with a healthy sense of humor, Smith revels in his natural role as a huge, rugged dude with an equally large personality.
 
Smith, who knows the Navy offense and opposing defenses so well that he's been known to overrule the center's pre-snap call, also is the sixth Navy guard to honor the late David Forney by wearing his jersey #68.
 
In Smith's mind as he recalled his youth, ending up in Annapolis was a foregone conclusion. He felt destined to land at the academy and live the four-year life of a Midshipman, before serving his country. He had long dreamed of playing his most beloved sport at the highest collegiate level.
 
Other schools, such as Air Force and South Alabama, had recruited him aggressively. In reality, they never had a chance.
 
"I feel like I've known I wanted to come here and play football my whole life," said Smith, who, upon graduating next spring, is angling to be commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. "I don't think there is anyone on the planet who loves Navy football more than I do. I bleed blue and gold. [Navy] is in my blood."
 
Smith literally grew up with the Naval Academy and military service-minded influences all around him – starting with his mother, Helen Bloom Smith, a 1994 Naval Academy graduate.
 
His aunt, Joy Bloom Wright (class of '93) and uncle, Will Wright ('95) also are Navy graduates.
 
In addition, his grandfather, Skeet Smith, 89, served in the Marine Corps, which would motivate  Hoke Smith to choose the same path. His uncle, James Ferguson, 81, flew S-2 anti-submarine warfare aircraft in Viet Nam. Both men are planning to attend Navy's game against visiting Tulsa on Saturday.
 
"It's cool having that relationship with the family. They know exactly what I'm going through at the academy. We speak the same military jargon," Hoke Smith said. "My mom is my #1 fan and supporter. She's the best. But she was a Naval Officer for seven years. She definitely doesn't take any BS. You do not want to be on her bad side."
 
Throughout his youth, Smith amassed memories that inspired him to love the academy – by visiting the school and learning about its culture, by witnessing numerous football games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, by being part of the class reunions that happen on home-game football weekends.
 
By the time he was making recruiting trips to Annapolis, Smith said the Yard felt like another home. He remembers telling his mother how determined he was to be a Midshipman.
 
Helen Smith said she didn't want to interfere with her son's decision in any way, but she knew the reality of the tough road she had navigated. She wondered at times how her son would respond to a difficult challenge no one can truly prepare for.
 
"[The Naval Academy] is a very hard school, with very tough course loads, and there are the military responsibilities. It's so much more than football," said Helen Smith, who is a dentist. Her husband, Brad Smith, is a lawyer. "I remember how sleep-deprived I was. I knew Hoke could do it. I understood how much he wanted to play football at the next level. But I just wanted him to consider all of his options."
 
Smith, who played most of his senior season at Vestavia Hills, had to overcome a knee injury he suffered at an early-summer football camp following his junior year. The timing was not beneficial, in terms of his recruiting process, although Navy's interest in Smith was increasing.
 
Smith participated in Navy football camp as a high school underclassman in 2018. He recalls how later, during his senior year in high school, then-defensive coordinator and current Navy head coach Brian Newberry and former longtime assistant coach Ashley Ingram were recruiting him. Smith was dying to commit to Navy.
 
"I remember being eight to 10 years old [at a Navy home game], watching the Brigade march on in their whites. I just fell in love with the uniforms, the pageantry, the flyover. All of it was so dang cool."
 
"I would call Coaches Newberry and Ingram, begging them to take me. Twice during my senior year, I flew myself up to Annapolis," Smith said. "Once I finally got offered in November of my senior year, I was ready to commit. My Mom asked me, 'Are you sure?' I signed a few days later."
 
Smith's road to Annapolis continued in 2022, in Newport, R.I. at the Naval Academy Prep School.
 
There, he quickly became one of the team's favorites, since he was a dead serious competitor, a whip smart player, a natural leader who would shake off this or that nagging injury, a huge likeable young man who loved one of the grittiest, dirtiest jobs in football.
 
And it didn't hurt that Smith had inside scoop on the Naval Academy and possessed a goofy side.
 
"There is never a dull moment with Hoke," said Vic Listorti, a senior running back, recalling some amusing NAPS moments authored by Smith – at least in the eyes of his teammates.
 
There was the time at NAPS when a few future Midshipmen, including Smith and Listorti, were commiserating over the poor test grades they had received. Then it turned into a joke, with Hoke's assistance.
 
"Hoke, me and a few others were laughing hysterically about how bad our test scores were," Listorti said. "I told Hoke I had gotten a 40 on a chemistry test. Hoke said [in a bragging way] that he got a 30. Or maybe it was the other way around."
 
Listorti might never forget the image of Smith being disciplined on the football field, while platoons were learning how to march and get into formations properly.
 
"One of the detailers caught Hoke not paying attention. I could see him getting yelled at, and being ordered to step out. All the sudden, I'm watching Hoke sprinting down the field with the detailer. And he runs into the end zone, throws up his hands and yells 'Touchdown!'" Listorti said.
 
"I think they made [Smith] sprint from end zone to end zone about 20 times after that. I don't think he was enjoying it by the end. Hoke is definitely a character," he said.
 
Fellow senior guard Cam Nichols, who considers Smith his most inseparable friend among the Mids, learned to appreciate Smith quickly during that formative NAPS year.
 
Nichols recalls how informed Smith was at NAPS, regarding the doings at the academy. And how inspiring he was – and is – while playing through injuries. Like the time he dislocated a big toe early in the Army game in 2024, and still rejoined the fight.
 
"[Smith] can be the one screaming and yelling at times, but also the one picking people up and bringing young guys along," Nichols said. "Everybody loved Hoke at NAPS. From the moment he arrived in Newport, everybody grew around him. Everybody still loves Hoke."
 
"Everybody knows they can count on Hoke. People gravitate to him," said Drew Cronic, Navy's third-year offensive coordinator. "He's a friend to anybody in the program. He plays hurt a lot, which sure means a lot to me. The Naval Academy is in his bones."
 
"Hoke's positive energy is contagious. I know I feed off of it," Jay Guillermo, Navy's third-year offensive line coach. "He is an old soul, a bright spot, the ultimate people person, by far the most intelligent football player I've ever coached. And one of the most selfless."
 
In the days leading up to the 2026 season opener against Towson, an FCS opponent, Smith was hampered by nagging injuries. Guillermo suggested he sit that game out. Smith wanted none of that. He looked his coach in the eyes and said, "I have five more games left to play at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. I'm not missing one. I'll be fine."
 
Helen Smith said her son has long been a natural leader, always bigger than his peers, always able to relate to kids of all demographics – and always willing to protect them.
 
Hoke Smith showed his protector side vividly, as a high school senior on March 5, 2022 at Birmingham's Legacy Arena, where the Vestavia Hills Rebels' girls basketball team was set to face rival Hoover High for the Class 7A state title.
 
Shortly before tipoff, rumors that gunshots had been fired sent a few thousand panicked fans scrambling for safety. Smith remained calm and calculating. He joined Schools Superintendent Todd Freeman and Vestavia Hills principal Tonya Rozell to assist in the evacuation.
 
Smith helped many students over a guardrail and into a safe area. When onsite security gave the all-clear message, Freeman asked Smith to assure fans it was safe to return, knowing how much fellow students trusted him. Smith happily yelled out the good news.
 
"No one really knew what was going on. It was kind of scary and weird. Everyone around me was crying," Smith said. "I was more focused on helping those people."
 
Smith was formally recognized two weeks later by the Board of Education for his act of heroism.
 
"That was pretty cool, but I thought it was a bit too much," he said. "All I could do was be willing to help."
 
In time, Smith will be responsible as a leader of fellow Marines, perhaps in combat. He plans to attack that challenge the same way he has performed many hard tasks as a Midshipman. He will hold forever a special place in his heart for the Naval Academy.
 
"I was raised to be dedicated to putting others first. My parents have ingrained that in me for a long time," Smith said. "I will always love the academy. And I just want to leave it better than I found it."