Weber State hires Arkansas assistant as coach

Published Dec. 5, 2011 6:58 p.m. ET

foxsports

Weber State has hired former Louisville and Michigan State coach John L. Smith as its new football coach.

School officials confirm Smith will be introduced at a news conference Tuesday.

The 63-year-old Smith is a former Wildcat player who has had stints as a head coach at Idaho, Utah State, Louisville and Michigan State. He has been special teams coach at Arkansas since 2009.

He replaces Ron McBride, who announced his retirement in November after seven seasons in charge at Weber State.

Smith has a career record of 132-86 as a head coach.

He played linebacker and quarterback at Weber State from 1968-1970 and started his coaching career there in 1971 as a graduate assistant.

Weber State, an FCS school, finished 5-6 this season but won its final two games.