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Bowling Green Alum Larry Smith Passes Away
Jan. 28, 2008
Courtesy St. Louis Post-Dispatch (STLtoday.com) - Larry Smith, whose seven-year stint as head football coach at the University of Missouri was highlighted by the Tigers ending a 13-year streak of losing seasons in 1997, died today in Tucson, Ariz., after a long illness. He was 68. Smith, a native of Van Wert, Ohio, and a Bowling Green graduate, was diagnosed with chronic lymphatic leukemia in 2000, and according to the Arizona Daily Star, he recently had battled pneumonia. Smith coached Mizzou from 1994-2000, a career highlighted by 1997 and 1998 seasons in which the Tigers gained national recognition with 7-5 and 8-4 seasons that followed 13 consecutive losing seasons. But his 1999 and 2000 teams struggled, finishing last each season in the Big 12 North, and he was fired after the '00 team lost five of its last six games and finished 3-8. He had three years remaining on his contract when Mizzou fired him. Smith's overall record at Missouri was 33-46-1, with a loss in the 1997 Holiday Bowl and a victory in the 1998 Insight.com Bowl. He coached Arizona for seven seasons and compiled a 48-28-3 record before leaving in 1987 for Southern California. His first three USC teams played in the Rose Bowl, but he was fired after losing to Fresno State in the Freedom Bowl following the 1992 season. He also made a bowl-game appearance as head coach of Tulane from 1976-79. Smith attended the U.S. Military Academy in 1957-58, then transferred to Bowling Green, where he graduated in 1962 with a bachelor of science degree in mathematics. He was a three-year letterwinner for the Falcons, captaining Doyt Perry's 1961 squad and winning All-Mid-American Conference honors on a pair of MAC championship teams. Smith would also earn his master's degree from BGSU, in 1967.
Smith began his coaching career at Lima Shawnee High School, winning league titles in 1964 and 1966. He moved to the collegiate ranks in 1967, joining Bo Schembechler's staff at Miami coaching outside linebackers for the Redskins. Smith went to Michigan with Schembechler in 1969, and coached the offensive line for the Wolverines from 1969-72.
In 1973, he joined head coach Jim Young at Arizona, and served as linebacker coach, defensive coordinator and assistant head coach from 1973-76, before getting his first head-coaching opportunity at Tulane. He was inducted into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991. Smith is survived by his wife, Cheryl, and children Corby and Alicia. Funeral arrangements and memorial information for Smith are pending. * * *
THE LARRY SMITH FILE
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Personal: some information from this release courtesy MUTigers.com
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