John L. Smith: Where It All Went Wrong at Michigan State

Arkansas is expected to announce shortly that former assistant coach (and current Weber State head coach) John L. Smith will assume the title of interim head coach for the Razorbacks.

Smith, 63, was the special teams coach at Arkansas for the past three seasons before being hired in December by Weber State, his alma mater.

Michigan State fans remember Smith well. Smith was hired away from Louisville in 2003, having guided the Cardinals to an 11-2 record and a Liberty Bowl victory in the 2001 season. His Cardinals limped to a 7-6 mark the next year before Michigan State came calling, and in his inaugural season in East Lansing the Spartans went 8-5 with a trip to the Alamo Bowl.

The ensuing three years were horror shows. Michigan State never won more than five games in any of them, despite starting the 2005 season 4-0 and being ranked as high as 11th in the AP poll. Smith, meanwhile, became typified by his bombastic demeanor—usually to no discernible benefit in his players' oft-erratic performance.

Essentially, Smith's teams were talented but poorly coached, typified perfectly here as the Spartans tried to kick a field goal with a 17-7 lead going into the halftime against Ohio State.

Buoyed by the half-ending 10-point swing, the Buckeyes would go on to win that game 35-24.

The world didn't really come crashing down on Smith at Michigan State until the next season, when his Spartans were hosting Notre Dame and held a 37-21 lead midway through the fourth quarter in a driving rainstorm. Notre Dame mounted a comeback for the ages, epic rants by dumbfounded radio hosts ensued, and Smith was simply left slapping himself in the postgame conference.

The Spartans collapsed after that, losing seven of their last eight games and finishing 4-8. And really, that's putting it gently. The Spartans have a five-minute "highlight reel" of what a disaster their 2006 season turned into under Smith. And, Spartan fans, I would strongly recommend not clicking play.

So with that, until Weber State (and now Arkansas) hired Smith late last year, that was the last the world had seen of John L. Smith, head football coach.

And now he's in the SEC. Have fun, Arkansas.