The death of former Arizona Wildcats assistant Calvin Magee was felt throughout the sport of college football, but especially so at Jacksonville State, where new head coach Rich Rodriguez was suddenly without an offensive coordinator.
To replace Magee, Rodriguez hired Rod Smith, Magee’s former co-offensive coordinator at Arizona.
Coach Rod Smith joins the Jacksonville State Football staff
Welcome to the family @CoachRSmith1❗
https://t.co/Io3bsf6lJA#HardEdge | #RTE21 pic.twitter.com/PAqhV9xAQv
— Jacksonville State Football (@JSUGamecockFB) June 12, 2022
Smith worked at Arizona for the entirety of Rodriguez’s tenure as the Wildcats head coach. Smith also played under Rodriguez as a quarterback at Glenville State and followed RichRod to West Virginia and Michigan before arriving at Arizona in 2012. After his stint with Arizona, Smith spent three years at Illinois and one season at Virginia. Most recently he served as an offensive assistant at Penn State.
At Arizona, Smith helped establish one of the nation’s most efficient offenses. In 2017, the UA averaged over 41 points per game (5th nationally), 309 rushing yards, 180 passing yards and 489 total yards (12th nationally).