It is high praise coming from anyone of note, but from someone with the status of Barassi, the first Legend in the Australian Football Hall of Fame, it is about as good as it gets.

It’s why Smith was named Coach of the Fitzroy Team of the Century in 2002, ahead of premiership coaches Percy Parratt (1913), George Holden (1916), Vic Belcher (1922) and Fred Hughson (1944).

And why in 2026 he has been inducted into the Brisbane Lions Hall of Fame.

Simply, he changed the game. He did away with the slow and traditional kick/mark style of play which had dominated for decades, and instead encouraged the use of handball and a “play on at every opportunity” mentality.

While Barassi is often credited with this ground-breaking change, he insisted often that Smith was the architect of ‘modern football’.

It is a monumental legacy that over-rides the playing and coaching career of a man who played 95 AFL games with Melbourne and Fitzroy, and coached 107 games at Fitzroy and Richmond, and completes an astonishing family double.

Why? Because Len Smith is the older brother of Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend Norm Smith, coach of the Australian Football Team of the Century and the Melbourne Team of the Century, and the man after whom the medal for the player judged best afield in the AFL Grand Final is named.

Born in Fitzroy on 9 February 1912, Len Smith was a high-marking centre half forward who played with Northcote in the VFA from 1931-33. He shared in premierships in 1932-33 and represented the VFA against the VFL before joining Melbourne in 1934. He played 19 games with the Demons under Frank Hughes in 1934-35, returned to Northcote to win another flag in 1936, and joined Fitzroy in ’37.

He played 76 games and kicked 52 goals with Fitzroy from 1937-43, beginning as a key forward before becoming a commanding a dominant figure at centre half back. After serving with the Royal Australian Air Force in World War One in 1944 he returned to Fitzroy for nine games in 1945.

In total he played 95 games for a 40-1-54 record without a finals appearance.

He quickly graduated to coaching, taking charge of the Fitzroy Under-19s from 1948-57 and winning a famous premiership in 1955.

In 1958 Smith succeeded Frank Curcio as senior coach after Fitzroy had finished 11^th at 6-12 in Curcio’s only season in charge in ’57, and in five years at the helm Smith saw them finish 3^rd-5^th-2^nd-5^th-10^th on the home-and-away ladder and won the prestigious appointment of Victorian coach in 1961.

In an era of a 12-team competition and a four-team finals system, Fitzroy lost a 1948 semi-final to North Melbourne by four points, and in 1960 lost a semi-final to Melbourne by 62 points and a preliminary to Collingwood by five points. It was a case of ‘what might have been’ when Melbourne beat Collingwood by 48 points in the grand final.

After Fitzroy slid to 10^th at 5-13 in 1962 Smith resigned, thinking he’d failed when other well-regarded football commentators were strongly of the belief that in fact he’d over-achieved in the years prior. Still, sadly, his time at Fitzroy was up.

He coached Coburg in the VFA in 1963 and in 1964 returned to the VFL at Richmond. Again his inspirational leadership and tactical acumen were clear, but ill-health disrupted his time at the Tigers.

A heart attack meant he didn’t take charge at Punt Road until Round 7 in his first season, and another heart attack three games into his second season forced his retirement.

As short as his time at the helm was, he established a template which in 1967 saw Richmond beat Geelong in the grand final under another man influenced heavily by Smith, Tom Hafey.

Sadly, Smith didn’t live to see it .. he died on 23 July 1967 aged 55.