Illinois coach Lovie Smith bolstered his offensive staff Friday by hiring a Rich Rodriguez protege as coordinator and dipping into the high school ranks for a new tight ends coach.
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Rod Smith has spent 10 of his 22 years in coaching under Rodriguez, including the last six seasons as co-offensive coordinator at Arizona. Rodriguez was fired earlier this month amid a sexual harassment allegation. Rod Smith also played quarterback for Rodriguez at NAIA Glenville State in the mid-1990s.
“Rod Smith brings terrific and exciting offensive experience to our staff,” Lovie Smith said in a statement. “His background and development of dual-threat quarterbacks and multiple-threat offenses is the direction we are going here. Rod has developed explosive quarterback play and offensive performance at each of his coaching stops.”
He replaces Garrick McGee, whom Lovie Smith fired in December after two seasons in Champaign.
Illinois also named Cory Patterson, who was head coach at Trinity Catholic High School in St. Louis, as its tight ends coach. Special teams coordinator Bob Ligashesky, who also coached tight ends the last two seasons, will concentrate only on special teams.
Illini offensive tackle Larry Boyd, who started nine games as a freshman last fall, played for Patterson at Trinity Catholic, which went 27-6 the last three seasons under Patterson and played in the 2016 Missouri Class 2 title game.
“Cory Patterson is an up-and-coming star in the coaching world,” Lovie Smith said in a statement. “I got to know him while he was doing an outstanding job at Trinity Catholic and saw the coaching and leadership skills that will be a tremendous fit at the University of Illinois. He is a high-energy, highly motivated young coach.”
Before his stint at Arizona, Rod Smith was co-offensive coordinator at Indiana (2011), quarterbacks coach at Michigan (2008-10) and West Virginia (2007) under Rodriguez, offensive coordinator at South Florida (2005-06) and quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator at USF (2001-04).
Arizona’s offense last season ranked fifth nationally in scoring with 41.3 points per game and 12th in total offense with 489.5 yards per game. Quarterback Khalil Tate rushed for 1,411 yards (9.2 per carry) while completing 62 percent of his passes for 1,591 yards with 14 touchdowns.
Illinois’ offense struggled, ranking 126th nationally with 15.4 points and 280.4 yards per game. Quarterbacks Chayce Crouch and Jeff George Jr. announced this week they are leaving the program, leaving sophomore-to-be Cam Thomas as the only returning scholarship quarterback.
Both hires are pending approval by the Illinois board of trustees.
