Smith, named interim head coach last week, takes the place of Tim Albin after a historic 2024 campaign.
The Ohio Bobcats, fresh off a historic Mid-American Conference championship campaign five decades in the making, will enter their title defense season under new leadership.
Brian Smith, the offensive coordinator under since-departed head coach Tim Albin, has accepted the permanent head coaching job after being given the interim tag on Dec. 8th. Smith first arrived in Athens in 2022, initially hired on as a running backs coach before being elevated to associate head coach in 2023 and offensive coordinator in 2024.
“Brian Smith exemplifies the essence of the Ohio University community,” Ohio University president Lori Stewart Gonzalez said via press release. ”He is a values-based coach with an incredible work ethic who is relentless in his pursuit of excellence. He has been an instrumental part of our football success in recent years and will be a tremendous leader of our program and representative of our University.”
Smith honed his craft in West Coast football, with previous work at Washington State as an offensive coordinator and pass game coordinator (2020-22), two stints at Hawai’i as an offensive assistant (2008-11; 2016-19) and at Occidental College as an associate head coach and offensive coordinator (2013-2016.)
A former collegiate long snapper at Hawai’i under June Jones, Smith would play at the NFL level for two seasons with Green Bay and Baltimore before entering the coaching ranks as an offensive assistant at Oregon State under Mike Riley. Smith is primarily a Nick Rolovich protege, working under Rolovich from 2016-2022, but has also worked under Greg McMackin, primarily using pistol and run-and-shoot concepts.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the Ohio University football program,” Smith said via press release. “Coach [Frank] Solich and [Tim] Albin laid the foundation for our success brick-by-brick, developing a culture that is second to none. Our culture and values will be protected and will continue to thrive, producing tremendous young men who are champions on the field and in our communities.”
Smith’s Bobcats this past season were perhaps the best offensive unit the MAC has seen in quite some time, leading the conference in points per game (29.2) and total offensive yards per game (399.8) and rushing yards per game (212.2) en route to a 9-3 regular season record and a conference title.
In his time on campus, the Bobcats have produced 11 all-MAC honorees on offense, including an offensive MAC Player of the Year in Kurtis Rourke (now at Indiana) and a MAC Freshman of the Year in Sieh Bangura (now at Minnesota.)
Smith’s track record in prior stops are also encouraging; under his two-year tutelage at Wazzu, five student-athletes earned All-PAC 12 Conference honors in 2020, while quarterback Jayden de Laura took 2021 PAC-12 Freshman of the Year honors.
In his two stints at Hawai’i, Smith oversaw 20 players graduate into the NFL and six all-Americans. Smith was also integral in engineering a Top 10 passing offense in 2018, tutoring Cole McDonald into Top 10 quarterback in passing touchdowns (36; sixth) and total passing yards (3,875; eighth.)
At the Division III level, Smith found success at California Lutheren as an offensive line coach and as an offensive coordinator/OL coach at Occidental College in Los Angeles, with
The Ohio Bobcats, who have been working under Smith as an interim for most of December, are in Orlando, Florida to take part in the Cure Bowl against Jacksonville State on Friday, Dec. 20. Kickoff is at noon Eastern time, with ESPN handling the broadcast.