Pirates look to Smith to
head up defense
From staff reports
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All rights reserved.
East Carolina is expected to announce
today that former Pirates assistant coach Rick Smith will return to the
program as defensive coordinator. WNCT-TV 9 sports director Brian
Bailey, a Bonesville columnist, reported the development Thursday
afternoon. Smith will replace
Brian Mitchell, who was informed earlier this month that his contract
would not be renewed for 2013. A
1971 Florida State grad, Smith joins head coach Ruffin McNeill's staff
after spending three seasons as assistant head coach and defensive backs
coach under former Pirate skipper Skip Holtz at South Florida. After his
stint at ECU, Smith accompanied Holtz when Holtz departed East Carolina
after the 2009 season to become head coach at USF.
Article continues after the
following picture.
Rick Smith
(USF Media Relations photo)
Highly regarded in college football
coaching circles, Smith has six years of experience as a defensive
coordinator at the Division I-A/Football Bowl Subdivision level and 33
years as a collegiate coach, all coming on the defensive side of the
ball. Holtz was fired by USF at
the end of the 2012 season, setting in motion the typical scramble to
find jobs faced by coaches and their assistants when a regime change
occurs. Holtz landed on his feet
when he was hired to take charge of the program at incoming C-USA member
Louisiana Tech. Smith's
destination will be the familiar turf of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, where he
played a part in helping the Pirates capture back-to-back Conference USA
championships in 2008 and 2009 and yearly bowl berths from 2006-09.
PAGE UPDATED
01/18/13 07:31 AM.
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