Rodriguez Hires Experienced Offensive Coordinator in Rod Smith
6/12/2022 12:56:00 PM | Football
JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State head coach Rich Rodriguez has announced the hiring of longtime coach Rod Smith as his new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Smith returns to the sidelines with Rodriguez, who he played for in college and has worked with at four previous stops. He brings over 25 years of coaching experience to JSU, over 20 of those years at the FBS level, and has coached in 11 bowl games. With the addition of Smith to the JSU staff, Mike DiAngelo will coach the tight ends and inside receivers.
He played quarterback for Rodriguez at Glenville State from 1993-96 before starting his coaching career in 1997. Smith would later work for Rodriguez as the quarterbacks coach at West Virginia in 2007, the quarterbacks coach at Michigan from 2008-10 and as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arizona from 2012-17.
From Arizona, he went to Illinois and was the Illini's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2018-2020 and served as their acting head coach at the end of that 2020 campaign. His was an analyst at Virginia in 2021 and comes to the Gamecocks from Penn State, where has most recently served as an analyst.
While at Illinois, Smith led the Illini to the 2019 RedBox Bowl, their first in five seasons, after leading an impressive turnaround with the offense in his first season at UI in 2018. That 2018 team made the biggest improvement in the nation in rushing, averaging over 137 yards more per game than the year before in 2017. The Illini averaged 243 yards rushing per game in 2018, second in the Big Ten.
While with Rodriguez at Arizona, Smith helped establish one of the nation's best offenses and set several single-game and single-season records. In 2017, the Wildcats averaged over 41 pointer per game (5th nationally), 309 rushing yards, 180 passing yards and 489 total yards (12th nationally).
While with Rodriguez at Michigan and West Virginia, he helped develop two of the top quarterbacks to ever hold the reigns in Rodriguez' offense. Denard Robinson was the 2010 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year after Pat White won his second-straight Big East Offensive Player of the Year Award in 2017.
Smith, a 1997 graduate of Glenville State, was an All-American and team captain for Rodriguez. The Franklin, W.Va., native would later earn his master's degree from Urbana University in Ohio in 2000.
Smith returns to the sidelines with Rodriguez, who he played for in college and has worked with at four previous stops. He brings over 25 years of coaching experience to JSU, over 20 of those years at the FBS level, and has coached in 11 bowl games. With the addition of Smith to the JSU staff, Mike DiAngelo will coach the tight ends and inside receivers.
He played quarterback for Rodriguez at Glenville State from 1993-96 before starting his coaching career in 1997. Smith would later work for Rodriguez as the quarterbacks coach at West Virginia in 2007, the quarterbacks coach at Michigan from 2008-10 and as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arizona from 2012-17.
From Arizona, he went to Illinois and was the Illini's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2018-2020 and served as their acting head coach at the end of that 2020 campaign. His was an analyst at Virginia in 2021 and comes to the Gamecocks from Penn State, where has most recently served as an analyst.
While at Illinois, Smith led the Illini to the 2019 RedBox Bowl, their first in five seasons, after leading an impressive turnaround with the offense in his first season at UI in 2018. That 2018 team made the biggest improvement in the nation in rushing, averaging over 137 yards more per game than the year before in 2017. The Illini averaged 243 yards rushing per game in 2018, second in the Big Ten.
While with Rodriguez at Arizona, Smith helped establish one of the nation's best offenses and set several single-game and single-season records. In 2017, the Wildcats averaged over 41 pointer per game (5th nationally), 309 rushing yards, 180 passing yards and 489 total yards (12th nationally).
While with Rodriguez at Michigan and West Virginia, he helped develop two of the top quarterbacks to ever hold the reigns in Rodriguez' offense. Denard Robinson was the 2010 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year after Pat White won his second-straight Big East Offensive Player of the Year Award in 2017.
Smith, a 1997 graduate of Glenville State, was an All-American and team captain for Rodriguez. The Franklin, W.Va., native would later earn his master's degree from Urbana University in Ohio in 2000.
Friday, April 17
Saturday, December 06
Wednesday, December 03
Sunday, November 30
