That trust has been repaid with players like Max Williamson, Alex Samuel, Gregor Brown, Angus Fraser and Euan Ferrie regularly included in Glasgow squads. Gregor Hiddleston is another young player making his mark. The hooker came off the bench in the opening fixture against Ulster to make 27 tackles in 20 minutes - a display that drew praise from Smith, who said: "I predict a huge future for the guy, I think he's going to become really, really good. Those tackle stats prove how much he cares and how much he wants to improve."
The 22-year-old signed his first full-time contract just seven months ago and featured nine times for the Warriors last season.
The departure of George Turner to Japan and the retirement of Fraser Brown could have sparked a search for a replacement way beyond Scotstoun but Smith has faith in Hiddleston and another young hooker, Angus Fraser, to cover Johnny Matthews over the campaign.
"It's great to hear good stuff from Franco and I can't speak highly enough of all the coaches.
"Franco makes it clear that there will be opportunities and it's up to us to take them. There are a lot of young boys who are out there and working hard and you're never too far away from an opportunity.
"I think things need to be seamless because if we're coming into the environment and being in the squad more regularly then we need to up our game. We can't hold back and say 'we've got a few more years to develop', we need to be ready to go now.
"All the young boys here in different positions - Max [Williamson], Alex [Samuel], Euan Ferrie - are putting their hands up and we need to be seamless when we come into this environment."