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Oct 4, 2014; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; NFL and Virginia Tech Hokies former defensive end Bruce Smith watches his team during the second half against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Kenan Memorial Stadium. The Virginia Tech Hokies won 34-17. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

Virginia Tech Legend Bruce Smith Named To The AP All-Time All-American Team

Originally posted on Virginia Tech Hokies on SI
By Jackson Caudell | Last updated Aug 16, 2025 11:00 AM ET

With the 2025 college football season, the AP All-American team will be turning 100 and to celebrate and on the second team was none other than former Virginia Tech and NFL legend Bruce Smith. The NFL's all-time sack leader should have arguably been on the first team, ahead of Huge Green and Randy White, but it was nice to see Smith recognized for being one of the greatest college football players of all time.

Bubba Smith, Warren Sapp, and LeeRoy Selmon were the other defensive linemen on the second team.

All-Time Great

Smith, the No. 1 pick in the 1985 NFL Draft, spent 15 seasons with Buffalo and was a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1990, 1993, and 1996). He also went to the Pro Bowl 11 times and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team during both the 1980s and the 1990s. He recorded 171 of his NFL-record 200 career sacks while with the Bills and set a franchise record with 19 sacks in 1990. He also played in all four of the Bills’ Super Bowl appearances.

Smith was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009. He is the only former Virginia Tech player to be inducted.

Smith’s No. 78 jersey at Virginia Tech already was retired in honor of his sensational college career. During his tenure with the Hokies, Smith registered a school-record 46 career sacks, including a single-season mark of 22 during his junior campaign in 1983. A two-time All-America selection, Smith also earned the 1984 Outland Trophy.

Where was Michael Vick?

There was one notable Hokie missing and that was quarterback Michael Vick. While Tim Tebow and Vince Young were worthy selections for the first and second team, Vick is arguably the most electric player in college football history.

Vick led the Hokies to a 22-2 record while he was a quarterback, earning a Big East championship and winning the 2000 Gator Bowl before he was drafted with the first pick in the 2001 NFL Draft. Vick had an incredible and historic career in the NFL, and it's safe to say that Vick is loved in Blacksburg, Virginia. In two years in Blacksburg, Vick totaled over 3,000 yards passing, 1,200 yards rushing, and 36 total touchdowns. He led Virginia Tech to a birth in the 1999 BCS National Championship against Florida State and finished third in Heisman Trophy voting that season, finishing behind Dayne and Georgia Tech quarterback Joe Hamilton.

Earlier this offseason, Vick was hired to be the new head coach at Norfolk State, which will be his first head coaching job.

This will be a fascinating hire for Norfolk State and one that Hokies fans will watch closely. Vick does not have any head coaching experience at the FBS level, but that does not mean that he could not have success. You can look at Deion Sanders as a recent example of a former player who had no prior coaching experience at the FBS or FCS level and he was fantastic at Jackson State and at Colorado. Sanders had the Buffaloes in the thick of the Big 12 title race, WR/CB Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy, and Hunter and QB Shedeur Sanders are projected to be top-ten picks in the upcoming NFL Draft. Does that mean Vick will be as good as Sanders has in his career? No, but I think he is going to have a chance to succeed at Norfolk State and how he does will be something that a lot of Hokies fans are going to be watching.