VIEW THE MOBILE ALPHA VERSION OF THIS SITE

Veteran defensive coach tops off deep staff

From staff and ECU reports

The final hire to the staff of first-year East Carolina football coach Skip adds more than two decades of experience to an assemblage of assistants that was already brimming with robust resumes.

The naming by Holtz of Rick Smith, 56, as the Pirates' defensive backs coach marked the final step in the transition of the stewardship of the ECU program from   the relatively green staff of former coach John Thompson to one dominated by grizzled veterans with over 180 years of collective experience.

Smith adds 24 years of college coaching experience and one year in the professional ranks to the 143 years collectively shared by the nine aides previously hired by Holtz.

Holtz, whose own coaching experience spans 18 years, succeeded Thompson as ECU's head football coach on December 3 after the latter compiled a 3-20 record in two years on the job.

Smith's hiring, announced in a press release on Tuesday, officially completes Holtz's two-month quest to assemble a staff that is poised to redirect its focus from its recently concluded recruiting efforts to preparations for spring drills, which are scheduled to commence on March 7.

Smith has six years of experience as a defensive coordinator at the Division I-A level and has spent all of his 24 years as a college coach on the defensive side of the ball.

"Simply, his credentials and reputation among the coaching industry speak for itself," said Holtz in a statement. "His experiences at the top level of college football are unmatched, as is his background as a coordinator and in Conference USA."

Last season, Smith served as the defensive backs coach for Berlin in NFL Europe, where he helped lead the Thunder to a 9-1 record and a 30-24 World Bowl victory over the Frankfurt Galaxy. Smith's unit compiled a league-high 15 interceptions, three of which came during its championship game win.

Coincidentally, another member of the Thunder's staff during that title run was Greenville citizen Steve Logan, who served as ECU's head football coach from 1992-2002. Logan was Berlin's quarterbacks coach last season and is expected to serve as its offensive coordinator in 2005.

Prior to his position in professional football, Smith spent was co-defensive coordinator at Louisiana Tech in 2002 and 2003 after serving as recruiting coordinator and assistant head coach and handling secondary duties at Kentucky the previous two seasons.

While Cincinnati's defensive coordinator, Smith's unit stood fourth nationally in turnovers gained (34) in 2000 to help the Bearcats to a 7-5 record and an appearance in the Motor City Bowl.

Before his two-year tenure at UC, he headed the Tulane defense, which played a pivotal role in the Green Wave's achievement of a No. 7 national ranking and undefeated (12-0) season in 1998, a season which was capped by a win over Brigham Young in the Liberty Bowl.

In 1997, he helped Tulane to a 7-4 mark, with the Wave topping the nation in interceptions with 26.

Before arriving at Tulane, Smith enjoyed a seven-year stay at Kentucky, serving as the Wildcats' secondary coach before being promoted to the coordinator position in 1996. He was part of a UK program which earned a Peach Bowl berth against Clemson in 1993.

From 1987 to 1989, he worked under College Football Hall of Fame inductee Grant Teaff at Baylor. His appointment as the Bears' secondary coach followed a one-year stay on Bill Curry's staff at Alabama where he helped guide the Crimson Tide to a 28-6 win over Washington in the 1986 Sun Bowl while working in a similar capacity.

Earlier in his college coaching career, Smith served as a linebackers (1982), secondary and punters coach (1983-85) at Georgia Tech, helping the Yellow Jackets to an All-American Bowl win over Michigan State in 1985.

He also spent time on the East Tennessee State staff after beginning his collegiate coaching career at Georgia Tech in 1977 as its head freshmen coach.

Smith also directed the rebuilding efforts at two high school programs as a head coach, taking the Marianna (Fla.) fortunes from a 1-9 campaign in 1979 to a 7-3 mark in 1981 before leading Wakulla (Fla.) to an 8-2 record in 1975.

Smith, who earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from Florida State in 1971, is married to the former Barbara Reddick and they are the parents of three children — Beth (30), Steve (28) and Billy (24).

At ECU, Smith joins a staff characterized for the most part by long coaching careers and in a number of cases with previous connections to ECU or to Holtz.

Smith is the first staff appointment since Greg McMahon was named as the Pirates' tight ends and special teams coach on Jan. 6, little more than two weeks after Donnie Kirkpatrick was named as the Pirates' wide receivers coach on Dec. 20.

Holtz's earlier hires included three staffers with ties to the Pirates — assistant head coach and defensive line coach Donnie Thompson, offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Steve Shankweiler and running backs coach Junior Smith.

Thompson and Shankweiler list stints as assistants at ECU on their resumes, while Smith, a former star player for the Pirates, logged his coaching experiences elsewhere.

Including Shankweiler, who was South Carolina's offensive line coach last season, five of ECU's assistants have crossed paths with Holtz at Notre Dame, South Carolina and/or Connecticut.

"Rock" Roggeman, a player and graduate assistant at Notre Dame in the mid-'eighties, was named as linebackers coach, while Holtz selected Greg Hudson, previously Minnesota's defensive coordinator, to assume that same position on the Pirates' staff. Hudson played at Notre Dame in 1986-87.

Phil Petty, a former quarterback and graduate assistant at South Carolina, joined the Pirates as an offensive coach, and Clifford Snow, who served with Holtz at South Carolina and UConn, is ECU's director of football operations.

02/23/07 11:31 AM

©2005 Bonesville.net. All rights rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bonesville.net contributed to this report. An ECU Athletics press release was used in compiling this report.