More Than Taping Ankles
Nick Gruber
Most high school athletes dream of lettering in their sport. Tyler Smith, however, lettered in sports medicine, becoming the first to do so at Centennial High School. For him, this meant taping ankles before football games and helping athletes recover from injuries. But it also marked the beginning of a career that would define the next two decades of his life.
Smith currently serves as the Director for Athletic Training for Olympic Sports and has been full time with Boise State since 2004. As a Boise native, Smith’s nearly three-decade commitment to student-athletes began 10 miles down the road from Albertsons Stadium, at Centennial High.
He grew up playing baseball, football, and basketball, but it wasn’t until high school, after a couple of ankle injuries, that he was introduced to the athletic training field. A new program at the time, Smith was one of the first students to take high school sports medicine, a class led by Eric Taylor, a longtime teacher and athletic trainer at Centennial.
“I didn’t really know about athletic training, until I had met one in high school. I realized it meshed sports competitiveness and human anatomy, which were both interests of mine.”Tyler Smith
Early into the program, Taylor recognized a potential future for Smith in the field.
“Tyler was always very involved. I remember thinking, ‘man, this kid has the potential to have an impact in health care, and hopefully in the athletic training profession,” Taylor said.
By his senior year, Smith had increased his level of commitment to the program, learning from Taylor, traveling to football games, and gaining valuable hands-on experience.
“Tyler was always involved with the program, asking great questions in the classroom and working after school events,” Taylor noted. “I appreciated his hard work so much, he was always the main student I would take with me traveling to games around the state. He worked hard and was very dedicated to our sports medicine program.”
After his time at Centennial, Smith realized this was something he could pursue in college.
He enrolled at Boise State and began taking classes at the university he grew up cheering for. As Smith worked toward earning his Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training, he received a unique opportunity his senior year. After sending 32 letters to different organizations in search of an internship, he landed one with the Indianapolis Colts. While the timing was less than ideal, just ten days after getting married, Smith headed to Indianapolis to spend a summer with an NFL organization.
“I wanted to see what the professional level was like, and it was a grind,” said Smith. “It was a lot of hard work, and it was a good experience to come back and take some of the things that I learned there and apply it here.”
And while Smith enjoyed the experience, it further convinced him that his future should be in college athletics.
“I left enjoying it, but also being more in love with the college experience, because it was less of a business,” Smith said. “It just didn't feel like me, where people are acquisitions and less of the individual, which is the reality of the situation. I really like to get to know people, and it’s hard to do that when you know that they can be traded anytime.”
After returning to the Treasure Valley and finishing his bachelor’s, Smith knew he would need to continue his education and earn a master’s degree. While he had opportunities to head east, he ended up staying home for his family.
At the time, the master’s program offered by the Broncos was a dual-class program with Idaho State. Smith began work as a graduate assistant, supporting football and men’s basketball while taking classes through both Boise State and Idaho State.
After two more years as a Bronco, Smith graduated with his master’s in athletic administration in 2007 and was subsequently offered a position as an athletic trainer. His level of success was something his original mentor saw coming.
“I am so proud that I had the opportunity to be there for Tyler as he made his decision to pursue the athletic training profession. Seeing his growth year after year, it is truly no surprise to me what a terrific athletic training professional he has become. If anyone were to ask me how to lead a happy and fulfilled life, I would point them in the direction of Tyler Smith's example of humility and service.”Eric Taylor
Two decades later, the lessons learned from Taylor at Centennial, grinding through an NFL training camp, and working year-round as a graduate assistant still shape how Smith approaches his work.
Today, as Boise State’s Director for Athletic Training for Olympic Sports, he oversees the health and performance of more than 100 student-athletes as the head trainer for track and field, and also the athletic training staff for Olympic sports like softball, soccer, and tennis.
After 25 years in blue and orange, he’s seen the program, and the profession, change in ways few others can match.
“When I started, you had this dedicated schedule of, ‘we practice at this time, we play during this time’,” said Smith. “Now, we’re always training, we're always lifting, we always have something on the books. Athletic training has also expanded outside of just the athletic realm. We’re in performing arts, some even work at places like Amazon. There’s a lot of different places that are recognizing what athletic trainers do really well.”
The one thing that hasn’t changed is Smith’s passion for the Broncos.
“Every Sunday morning, I remember checking the ESPN website to see if our football team would be ranked in the top-25,” said Smith. “I vividly remember, it was a surreal moment at my desk where we actually cracked the top-25, and I was like, ‘oh my gosh, we did it.’”
But while Boise State’s rise has been celebrated publicly, the role of athletic trainers like Smith is sometimes less understood. Most people picture wrapping ankles or handing out water. For Smith, that remains the biggest misconception.
“I always joke, I don’t even know if I remember how to tape an ankle because I haven’t done it for so long. I probably still could, but it’s kind of like an iceberg where you see a little bit of what we do, and then underneath it’s daily interactions with the athletes. It’s physical therapy, you become this resource to catch everything, you’re the front-line person for all of it. As things pop up, you’re their first person to hear if something is bothering them, and you have to be able to know what you can take on, not take on, and refer them to other resources.”Tyler Smith
Although it’s a lot to bear as an individual, these relationships are part of what keeps Smith motivated after two decades in the industry.
“I don’t know what I would do with a nine to five job because I’ve never worked one,” added Smith. “I love competitive and driven people, which helps me a lot because I’m working with people that genuinely want to get better or have goals in mind. College athletes are a fun breed, it’s a growing time for them where you get to experience a little bit of helping them along their journey. You get to grow with them, but you also can provide a pillar of support, especially since they’re away from their parents, so they entrust in you a lot.”
Not only do the student-athletes keep him invested, but so does working for his childhood favorite team. He embraces the underdog mentality that has defined Boise State on the biggest stages.
“For a lot of people it would be like working a professional sport in your town where you’ve grown up,” said Smith. “I can remember throwing the football in the parking lot waiting for a football game when we were in the Big Sky. It’s almost surreal to see the growth that we’ve had, like us moving into the PAC 12. It’s always kind of fun for me to be second guessed by everyone. Or have a little chip on your shoulder.”
His drive to serve and protect athletes doesn’t stop when Smith leaves the training room. One of his biggest pushes has been ensuring widespread CPR certification among staff at Boise State.
“Being someone that’s been in emergency situations in the community, you can’t be too prepared. I just wondered, how can we get this off the ground and make this place as safe as we can for not only our student athletes, but also the people who work there?”
The inspiration for this initiative started in 2023, following the live CPR performed on Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin on ESPN during a Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
As the point person for CPR in the department, Smith helped lead classes with the goal of having everyone on staff certified. In just three months, he helped certify 80% of the staff.
Smith has also been a consistent advocate for elevating athletic training standards across Idaho. For nearly a decade, he has served as a District Director with the Idaho Athletic Trainers Association, helping advocate for athletic trainers in the state. Through his involvement, Smith has pushed for education and safety measures that extend to high schools and youth sports programs statewide. For him, it’s about giving every athlete, coach, and trainer the tools to respond when seconds matter most.
His work for the association was recently acknowledged when he received the Service Award, honoring his commitment to the state and to athletic trainers in Idaho.
“It was nice to be recognized,” Smith said. “The association has opened up a lot of avenues for me. I’ve gotten to know a lot of athletic trainers outside of just my small area of influence. I know a lot of the high school athletic trainers here, in north Idaho, eastern Idaho, and we’ve really built that community.”
In a role that feels 24/7, Smith likes to escape as time allows in the summers with his camping trailer, decompressing in the woods with his wife and son, or going to the movies with his son. He also finds time to take care of himself physically, running and lifting as often as he can.
Now as Smith nears the three-decade mark as a Bronco, he’s proud of what he has accomplished thus far, particularly his work establishing the Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) committee and protocol, a way to measure when athletes don’t eat enough and exercise too much.
“When I think of the different achievements, I care less about the accolades, or going to nationals and winning games. I think what I’ve been most proud of is establishing the RED-S committee and protocol. This has helped me have some of my most rewarding moments as an athletic trainer.”
As for what’s next? Smith will enter another year as a Bronco, continuing to serve as the Director for Athletic Training for Olympic Sports and lead athletic trainer for the cross country and track and field teams, two programs that had multiple athletes compete in national meets during the 2024-25 season.