Just two days into spring football practice and there is already more turnover on the Arkansas coaching staff.
Jimmy Smith, who has coached the Razorbacks’ running backs since Head Coach Sam Pittman hired him in 2020, has announced that he is leaving for the same position at TCU.
With the obvious connected between Smith and former Arkansas offensive coordinator Kendall Briles, who departed Fayetteville to fill the Horned Frogs’ OC position before last season, the move is understandable.
The loss of Smith is a setback for a Razorbacks program that went just 4-8 last season. But, expectation for an improved offense are rising heading into the 2024 season, as former head coach Bobby Petrino returned to Fayetteville as the offensive coordinator, and hand-picked 6-foot-6 Boise State transfer quarterback Taylen Green out of the portal.
But the value of Smith will be tough to replace, especially with his close ties to Georgia, where the Razorbacks have found success in recruiting the past four years. He is credited with bringing in the Hogs’ likely starting tailback, Rashod Dubinion, a 4-Star recruit out of Ellenwood (Ga.) Cedar Grove High School.
Smith also helped land two more 4-Star tailbacks, in redshirt-freshman Florida-native Isaiah Augustave, as well as the recently departed A.J. Green, out of Oklahoma. He was also key in helping develop former Razorback Raheem “Rocket” Sanders into one of the SEC’s top ball-carriers.
Pittman gave Smith his first Power 5 job, after he served one season as the running backs coach at Georgia State. He had previously been the head coach at Cedar Grove High School.
Arkansas will begin an immediate search for Smith’s replacement.