COLUMBIA, Mo. -- After 24 seasons as a head coach at four
Division I schools, Larry Smith says his days on the sideline are
probably over.
|  | | Larry Smith plans to move back to Arizona, spend time with his family and work on his golf game. |
Smith was fired by Missouri on Saturday, hours after his Tigers
ended a 3-8 season. Smith and his wife, Cheryl, plan to move back
to Arizona in the spring, where he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
in a telephone interview he plans to work on his golf game, spend
time with family and join a 60-and-older baseball league.
"I'm 61 years old," Smith said. "I think my coaching days are
over.
"Coaching is a great profession, but it's becoming full of
pitfalls," Smith said.
The Tigers were 33-46-1 in Smith's seven seasons in Columbia.
His 1997 team was 7-5, ending a 13-year string of losing seasons at
Missouri. The next season, Missouri was 8-4, including a victory
over West Virginia in the Insight.com Bowl.
But the momentum was lost in 1999. With star quarterback Corby
Jones and running back Devin West lost to graduation, the Tigers
slipped to 4-7, including losses of 66-0 to Kansas State, 51-14 to
Texas A&M and 37-0 to Oklahoma.
Missouri was generally more competitive this season, though
their record slipped to 3-8. In both of the last two seasons, the
Tigers were beaten by arch-rival Kansas.
Smith declined to talk about the state of the football team.
"It's over," he said.
Other Big 12 coaches praised Smith during a teleconference
Monday.
"I hate to see that happen, because we try to do so many other
things than just win football games," Kansas coach Terry Allen
said.
Meanwhile, speculation has begun on who will follow Smith at
Missouri.
Athletic director Mike Alden said he is looking for someone with
"a strong ability to establish relationships with the
student-athletes." He also wants a "recruiting machine,"
particularly someone who can lure the state's top high school
athletes to the university.
Alden said he and senior associate athletics director Gene
McArtor soon would whittle down a long list of prospects. There was
no timetable, but he hopes to have someone in place within a few
weeks.
There is some urgency: Coaches are permitted to begin having
off-campus contact with high school seniors Sunday. Signing day is
Feb. 5.
Several current college head coaches, as well as a number of
offensive and defensive coordinators, are believed to be on Alden's
shopping list. None of Missouri's nine assistants are considered
strong prospects to replace Smith.
Among those expected to receive serious consideration are Dennis
Franchione, head coach at Texas Christian; Mike Bellotti, head
coach at Oregon; offensive coordinators Mark Richt of Florida State
and Rich Rodriguez of Clemson; and defensive co-coordinator Brent
Venables of Oklahoma.
Franchione, 49, and Alden have been close friends since the
mid-1990s, when Franchione was head coach at New Mexico and Alden
was associate athletics director. TCU is 9-1 this season. But
Franchione reportedly is mulling a seven-year contract extension at
TCU that would pay him about $1 million annually. He also has been
mentioned as a successor to Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder, who
was fired last week.
Rodriguez, 37, also might not be available. He is believed to be
a strong candidate for the head-coaching job at West Virginia, his
alma mater.
Bellotti, 49, has engineered a notable turnaround at Oregon.
Despite a loss to Oregon State on Saturday, the Ducks are 9-2, and
Bellotti might be looking to move to a stronger football
conference.
Richt, 40, has been at Florida State for 15 years and has been
running the Seminoles' powerful offense for seven years. FSU coach
Bobby Bowden said several schools had expressed interest in Richt.
Venables is highly regarded as a defensive specialist, though
he's just 29. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said he has not been
contacted by anyone at Missouri regarding Venables.
Alden's other significant hire, however, was a young coach. In
April 1999, he hired Quin Snyder, 33, as head basketball coach
after Norm Stewart retired. Snyder guided the Tigers to an 18-13
record and a spot in the NCAA Tournament in his first season.
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VIDEO
  Missouri AD Mike Alden announces the firing of head coach Larry Smith. RealVideo: 28.8 Athletic Director Mike Alden discussed several options with coach Larry Smith. wav: 285 kRealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 |
