In MSU circles, former head football coach John L. Smith typically is remembered more for his antics off the field than leading the Spartans to success on the field.
Six years removed from the manning the sidelines at Spartan Stadium and John L. is still the same face-slapping coach MSU fans remember.
Early in his press conference Wednesday at SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala., he responded to a question about wanting to keep the Arkansas job beyond this season by saying, “Do I look stupid? Wait, don’t answer that.”
And while its always fair game to assume the flamboyant coach will throw out a memorable soundbyte anytime he’s in front of a microphone or camera, he did make an interesting comment regarding his time in East Lansing. Smith said he’s grown as a coach since he was the head man at MSU, and was reflective of his tenure in which he went 22-26 over four years, saying, “That was a situation where, not to make excuses … we (were) fighting through a lot of battles.”
Smith is the Razorbacks’ interim coach after former head coach Bobby Petrino was fired in April for being involved with an extramarital scandal with an Arkansas employee.
Since leaving MSU he worked under Petrino as the special teams coach and accepted the head job at his alma mater, Weber State, last December but bolted for Arkansas before ever coaching a game.