RIP Larry Smith

[rascalface]

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/222568.php

 

[MU_was_not_so_hard]

RIP. Seemed like a nice enough guy in the very short time I covered him.

 

[poindexter]

As the link was connecting, I was 50-50 on whether this was Mr. Mean, or the college football coach.

 

[Blitz]

Me, too.
Mr. Mean was a pillar on Davey Whitney's 1979 Alcorn State team which won on the road at Mississippi State to open the NIT, then lost by 4 at Bloomington versus Knight's boys. I'm very familiar with him.
Hollandale Simmons High grad.
I was concerned, too, that it was him. He was solid in the pros with the Rockets.

Condolences to the former Arizona coach's family. I never remember much negative press about the guy.

 

[mpcincal]

I remember he was one of the most highly respected coaches around while at Arizona, but I believe his rep took a bit of a hit with his the end of his USC tenure, mainly the Fiesta Bowl loss to Fresno State and his breaking down in tears at the presser announcing his resignation.

RIP

 

[poindexter]

I remember he was one of the most highly respected coaches around while at Arizona, but I believe his rep took a bit of a hit with his the end of his USC tenure, mainly the Fiesta Bowl loss to Fresno State and his breaking down in tears at the presser announcing his resignation.

RIP

That wasn't the Fiesta Bowl with Fresno State - it might have been the Freedom Bowl or some other similar **** bowl.

 

[doubledown68]

Covered his final season at Mizzou... and honestly, that semester was such a blur, I can't recall that much. His biggest mistake whilst there was failing to capitalize on the momentum created by the back-to-back bowl seasons in 97 and 98. He also brought in some top-tier talent, including Justin Smith and Justin Gage. RIP.

 

[Birdscribe]

I remember he was one of the most highly respected coaches around while at Arizona, but I believe his rep took a bit of a hit with his the end of his USC tenure, mainly the Fiesta Bowl loss to Fresno State and his breaking down in tears at the presser announcing his resignation.

RIP

That wasn't the Fiesta Bowl with Fresno State - it might have been the Freedom Bowl or some other similar **** bowl.

It was the 1992 Freedom Bowl... and Smith took a blizzard of flak for the Spoiled Children spitting the bit in that game.

We had 3-4 Fresno State grads working at the paper I worked at -- and two 'SC grads, who never heard the end of that one for months.

RIP

 

[mpcincal]

I remember he was one of the most highly respected coaches around while at Arizona, but I believe his rep took a bit of a hit with his the end of his USC tenure, mainly the Fiesta Bowl loss to Fresno State and his breaking down in tears at the presser announcing his resignation.

RIP

That wasn't the Fiesta Bowl with Fresno State - it might have been the Freedom Bowl or some other similar **** bowl.

Yes it was the Freedom Bowl. Meant to write that and had a brain fart.

 

[mpcincal]

I remember he was one of the most highly respected coaches around while at Arizona, but I believe his rep took a bit of a hit with his the end of his USC tenure, mainly the Fiesta Bowl loss to Fresno State and his breaking down in tears at the presser announcing his resignation.

RIP

That wasn't the Fiesta Bowl with Fresno State - it might have been the Freedom Bowl or some other similar **** bowl.

It was the 1992 Freedom Bowl... and Smith took a blizzard of flak for the Spoiled Children spitting the bit in that game.

We had 3-4 Fresno State grads working at the paper I worked at -- and two 'SC grads, who never heard the end of that one for months.

RIP

Yeah, my college roommate at the time was originally from the Central Valley and a big Fresno State fan. That game was during Christmas break and he was back home, but was able to leave me a message razzing me for that.

I've always been a USC fan, but a big part of me was kind of happy to see them get their clock cleaned because they were so damn arrogant before that game. I remember Rob Johnson, who I never liked much quite frankly, saying USC wouldn't even have the Bulldogs on their regular schedule, to which a co-worker of mine replied "I guess not, Rob -- you'd probably want to face a team you could beat."

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

Covered his final season at Mizzou... and honestly, that semester was such a blur, I can't recall that much. His biggest mistake whilst there was failing to capitalize on the momentum created by the back-to-back bowl seasons in 97 and 98. He also brought in some top-tier talent, including Justin Smith and Justin Gage. RIP.

He cleaned up a Cassandra Crossing-type wreck scene left by Bob Stull, maybe the worst coach in Division I history.

 

[goalmouth]

Smith made Tulane into a winner, went to a bowl game, and beat LSU for the first time in decades. After he left, his core of recruits went on to another bowl, and beat LSU two out the next three years, a miracle by any measure.

 

[MileHigh]

From the L.A. Times obit:

Smith, seemingly repudiating the Trojans' storied football heritage, further inflamed longtime USC followers when he said, "Names and logos don't mean anything. You don't beat someone just because of your name and logo."

Within days of the Fresno State loss, Smith was fired with three years left on his contract.


And in a 2006 interview, he didn't back down from the comment.

"Our guys didn't give a damn about being there," he said of the game.

 

[Alma]

Good coach. Wore his heart right out there. Had a little Jim Mora in him. The Rodney Peete squads never quite fulfilled their potential, but they were fun to watch.

 

[SoCalDude]

Smith was a pretty nice guy, but what he said after the Freedom Bowl was exactly the wrong thing for USC fans to hear.
And the then-SID at UofA said that he never told his players he was leaving for USC. They had to find out from the media. He left on somewhat bad terms.

 

[dixiehack]

I remember he was one of the most highly respected coaches around while at Arizona, but I believe his rep took a bit of a hit with his the end of his USC tenure, mainly the Fiesta Bowl loss to Fresno State and his breaking down in tears at the presser announcing his resignation.

RIP

That wasn't the Fiesta Bowl with Fresno State - it might have been the Freedom Bowl or some other similar **** bowl.

It was the 1992 Freedom Bowl... and Smith took a blizzard of flak for the Spoiled Children spitting the bit in that game.

We had 3-4 Fresno State grads working at the paper I worked at -- and two 'SC grads, who never heard the end of that one for months.

RIP

Sadly, Google Images failed to come through on the old "Our maids went to Fresno State" T-shirts.

 

[rascalface]

He cleaned up a Cassandra Crossing-type wreck scene left by Bob Stull, maybe the worst coach in Division I history.

Which is hard to imagine, when you consider Stull had two future NFL head coaches (Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg) and a future Pac-10 head coach (Dirk Koetter) on his staff during those years. Makes you appreciate even more what Larry Smith was able to do in Columbia.

 

[Tom Petty]

He cleaned up a Cassandra Crossing-type wreck scene left by Bob Stull, maybe the worst coach in Division I history.

Which is hard to imagine, when you consider Stull had two future NFL head coaches (Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg) and a future Pac-10 head coach (Dirk Koetter) on his staff during those years. Makes you appreciate even more what Larry Smith was able to do in Columbia.

god, talk about hell. from a couple pac-10 schools to missouri. ick.

 

[D-3 Fan]

I remember he was one of the most highly respected coaches around while at Arizona, but I believe his rep took a bit of a hit with his the end of his USC tenure, mainly the Fiesta Bowl loss to Fresno State and his breaking down in tears at the presser announcing his resignation.

RIP

That wasn't the Fiesta Bowl with Fresno State - it might have been the Freedom Bowl or some other similar **** bowl.

It was the 1992 Freedom Bowl... and Smith took a blizzard of flak for the Spoiled Children spitting the bit in that game.

We had 3-4 Fresno State grads working at the paper I worked at -- and two 'SC grads, who never heard the end of that one for months.

RIP

I went into my closet and pulled a tape of said Freedom Bowl. I was happy as hell to watch USC get punked when it happened, but felt sorry for Smith, because he looked like a guy who had no control over what was taking place on the field. It wasn't even a game. Fresno kicked their asses up and down the field.

MileHigh, I love the quote Smith said about SC. Just because you wearing a big-name school on your jersey, doesn't mean **** if you don't play like one.

 

[dooley_womack1]

He cleaned up a Cassandra Crossing-type wreck scene left by Bob Stull, maybe the worst coach in Division I history.

Which is hard to imagine, when you consider Stull had two future NFL head coaches (Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg) and a future Pac-10 head coach (Dirk Koetter) on his staff during those years. Makes you appreciate even more what Larry Smith was able to do in Columbia.

The fifth-down game basically killed what was a decent building job Stull was doing. Took the steam right out of the program. And Smith basically lucked out in having the gutsiest quarterback I have ever seen in Corby Jones. Gave Mizzou several wins they had no business getting. He disguised the fact that Mizzou still wasn't getting good recruits, a situation that in the last couple of years Pinkel has finally reversed.