Smith attended Seneca Valley High School in Harmony, Pennsylvania, graduating in 2006. During his high school career, he played for the school's American football team as a quarterback, but was limited to only 12 games.

Smith enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh and played for the Pittsburgh Panthers football team. He redshirted during his first year at Pittsburgh, in 2006, and became the Panthers' starting quarterback in 2007 following an injury to Bill Stull. He lost his starting role to Pat Bostick, a true freshman, after struggling in a 2007 game against the Michigan State Spartans. He appeared in five games during the 2007 season, and one game during the 2008 season.

After the 2008 season, coach Dave Wannstedt and offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh approached Smith about changing positions. As Smith had increased his weight training, they considered moving him to outside linebacker or tight end. He instead opted to quit football so that he could play for the Pittsburgh Panthers baseball team. For the baseball team, Smith had a .375 batting average, 19 home runs and 123 runs batted in (RBIs) in his three seasons. He was twice named an All-Big East Conference selection and twice named to the All-Tournament Team in the Big East Conference Baseball Tournament.

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