Former Arizona offensive coordinator Rod Smith joins Rich Rodriguez’s staff at Jacksonville State

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.

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 (5^th nationally), 309 rushing yards, 180 passing yards and 489 total yards (12^th nationally).