John L. Smith has a new job lined up.
Smith, who was on an interim, 10-month contract with the University of Arkansas football program, will take over as coach at Division 2 Fort Lewis College on March 1. The timetable will allow Smith to finish his 10-month contract with the UA for which he is being paid $850,000.
Here’s more from the Durango Herald:
Defensive coordinator Ed Rifilato will maintain oversight of the program until Smith assumes his duties. Rifilato played for Smith, then a defensive coordinator, at Idaho and was director of football operations in 2002 during Smith’s tenure at Louisville.
Since Rifilato’s 2006 squad won seven games, FLC has gone 11-52 overall and hasn’t won more than three games in a season, culminating with this year’s winless mark, the first such season for the Skyhawks since 1998. The program is just 157-324-3 in its history.
Smith was 4-7 in his only season as head coach at Arkansas. He’s 136-93 overall as a head coach with Arkansas, Michigan State, Louisville, Idaho and Utah State.
Smith, who faces a $40 million bankruptcy case, has been in the news recently for more than football. Here's the latest from Arkansas Business:
The former Arkansas Razorbacks football coach last month tried to push through a motion in his Chapter 7 bankruptcy case that would have allowed his or his former business partners’ attorneys to decide what documents or other evidence tied to his case are confidential. We understand that Smith’s recent two-day deposition was on the list of information that he wanted to keep under wraps.
