John L. Smith

John L. Smith

This article refers to the football coach. For the World War II Marine Corps ace and Medal of Honor recipient, see John Lucian Smith.

John L. Smith is the head coach for the Michigan State University Spartans’ football team. He became the University's 23rd head coach on December 19, 2002.

Smith was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho on November 15, 1948. He married Diana Flora on August 15, 1970 and they have three children, Nicholas, Kayse and Sam.

He played college football in the late 1960s at Weber State College in Ogden, Utah, as both a linebacker and quarterback.

In 2000, Sports Illustrated recognized Smith as one of Idaho's top 100 athletes of the 20th Century. He was later inducted into the Idaho Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.

Head coaching record

Smith has a record of 21-22 in his four-year tenure at MSU. The Spartans’ 2005 record was 5-6 (2-6 in the Big Ten).

He has compiled a record of 131-82 (.615) in his 17 years as a college head coach. After being an assistant head coach for Dennis Erickson for seven seasons, Smith began his head coaching career in 1989 at Idaho, compiling a 53-21 record (.716) in six seasons. Under his leadership, the Idaho Vandals, then in the Big Sky, made the I-AA playoffs five times. His 53 wins are the most in school history (by 20 games). Smith left Idaho following the 1994 season, moving to Division I-A with Utah State for three seasons (16-18, .470). Smith then spent five seasons at Louisville (1998-2002), where he put together a 41-21 record (.661), including five-straight bowl appearances and back-to-back Conference USA titles in 2000-2001. After the 2002 season, John L. Smith was hired as the head football coach at Michigan State.

Smith ranks number 12 among active NCAA Division I-A football coaches in career victories and number 17 in career winning percentage (.631).

Twelve of his 16 teams have participated in postseason play, including seven-straight bowl appearances from 1997-2003. Smith is one of 18 head coaches in college football history to take three different teams to bowl games.

Smith, a defensive coach for most of his career, is also known as one of the disciples of the spread offense, learned from Dennis Erickson through Jack Elway and Jim Sweeney. After introducing it at Michigan State in 2003, his first season with the Spartans, Smith was named the Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year.

Assistant coaching experience

Smith began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Weber State College in 1971. For the next 17 seasons, Smith was an assistant coach, first at Montana (1972-76) for five seasons then at Nevada (1977-81) for five more as the defensive coordinator. He then joined Dennis Erickson as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach for 7 seasons at three locations: Idaho (1982-85), Wyoming (1986), and Washington State (1987-88).

First year as head coach

When Erickson left WSU for Miami in 1989, and Idaho's Keith Gilbertson departed for an assistant's job under Don James at Washington, Smith decided to stay on the Palouse and become the head coach at neighboring Idaho.

Smith inherited a Vandal team that went 11-2 in 1988 (I-AA semifinals) with a returning All-American quarterback in John Friesz. Despite losing the first two games of 1989 (Washington State & Portland State), Idaho would go undefeated (8-0) in Big Sky conference play, the only time in school history. The Vandals lost in the first round of the I-AA playoffs, and finished at 9-3. Senior quarterback Friesz won the Walter Payton Award for the 1989 season, and was drafted by the San Diego Chargers.

Trivia

Smith has earned a reputation for his venturesome attitude. Here are some of Smith's most recent adventures:

• Smith went paragliding with his children in Zermatt, Switzerland.
• He climbed a 19,340-foot peak on Mount Kilimanjaro.
• He participated in a flight on a T-38 Talon in Texas at Randolph Air Force Base.
• He skydived at 14,000 feet over Greensburg, Indiana.
• Smith ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
• He went through basic training for officers with the United States Marines in Quantico, Virginia.
• His nephew is San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith.

Criticism

Smith has come under fire recently from Michigan State fans and alumni, who feel he should be fired as head coach. Those who support his firing cite the following as examples:

• Losing to Michigan 45-37 in 2004 after leading 27-10 in the 4th quarter.
• Losing to Ohio State 35-24 in 2005 in a game that saw the Spartans take a 17-7 lead. MSU had a field goal attempt blocked and returned for a touchdown at the end of the first half. As he ran off the field, Smith blamed the coaches for the confusion on the field regarding what personnel MSU should have had (which led to the blocked kick).
• Losing to Notre Dame on September 23, 2006, 40-37. Michigan State led 37-21 midway through the fourth quarter. Many blame quarterback Drew Stanton for the loss, while others point to Smith and the coaching staff for poor playcalling that led to the collapse.
• Losing to Illinois on September 30, 2006, 23-20, on Homecoming. Illinois is generally considered to be the worst team in the Big Ten, and they had not won a Big Ten game since 2004. After the game, Illinois and Michigan State players fought at midfield after several Illinois players tried to plant their team flag at midfield of Spartan Stadium (a practice started by Michigan State the previous year at Notre Dame). In the postgame press conference, Smith admitted the coaches were having trouble motivating the players, a statement that is being compared to those of Bobby Williams in 2002 before he was fired. Smith also slapped himself in the face and (perhaps jokingly) as a reference to a previous claim by Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis that implied he had been hit in the face by a Michigan State player during the 2006 contest.
• Not only losing to the University of Michigan and to Ohio State University, but literally getting out-played, out-coached and out-hustled on the field.
• Losing control of the team to various off-field instances, specifically physical assaults.

External links

• Biography at Michigan State athletics website
• Head coaching record John L. Smith
• "The Slap"