Brian Smith named Ohio University’s head football coach

Brian Smith has been promoted to head football coach at Ohio University, Director of Athletics Julie Cromer announced Wednesday (Dec. 18).

Smith becomes the 30th head coach in program history.  
 
"Ohio Bobcat Football has been on a historic run in recent years, and Brian Smith has been a significant part of not only our MAC Championship team, but also our established culture of winning," Cromer said. "During the course of a national search that attracted several outstanding candidates, Coach Smith ultimately stood out above the rest. He presented a plan for not only sustaining our culture and foundation but also building upon it in the evolving landscape of college football. He prioritizes our student-athletes' experiences and shares our common goals of developing leaders, graduating students, unifying our community and amplifying our University. I am especially grateful to our former players, particularly those who directly assisted with our search process to ensure we identified the best leader for our program. We are thrilled that Coach Smith has agreed to lead our program into the next era of Bobcat Football."   
 
"Brian Smith exemplifies the essence of the Ohio University community," President Lori Stewart Gonzalez said. "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."
 
"I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the Ohio University football program," Smith said. "Coach Solich and 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, named the interim head coach last week, has served as associate head coach since 2023 and added the offensive coordinator title in 2024. He joined Ohio in 2022 as the running backs coach and passing game coordinator.  
 
Smith's offense in 2024 led the Mid-American Conference in points per game at 29.2, yards per game at 399.8, total yards at 5,198 and rushing yards at 2,758. Running back Anthony Tyus III led the MAC with 1,111 yards this season, while quarterback Parker Navarro sits top-10 in the nation in quarterback rushing yards with 943.
 
In the 2024 MAC Championship, Smith's offense produced 467 yards in Ohio's historic 38-3 win over Miami. Ohio had 232 yards on the ground, while Parker Navarro was 20-of-27 with 235 yards passing and four total TDs.
 
With Smith on staff at Ohio, the Bobcats have produced 11 All-MAC offensive honorees, one offensive MAC Player of the Year (Kurtis Rourke) honoree and one MAC Freshman of the Year (Sieh Bangura) honoree in just three seasons.
 
Ohio has won both the Arizona Bowl and Myrtle Beach Bowl during Smith's time, with running back Rickey Hunt Jr. winning Myrtle Beach Bowl Most Valuable Player. Hunt set a program record for most touchdowns scored in a single game (5) and tied the NCAA record for number of touchdowns scored in a bowl game.  
 
Before joining the Bobcats in 2022, Smith served as the Washington State associate head coach, offensive coordinator, and running backs coach, where he led one of best offenses in the PAC-12. At Washington State, he coached PAC-12 Freshman of the Year Jayden de Laura and five All-PAC 12 conference honors on offense.  
 
Prior to Pullman, Smith worked the previous four seasons as associate head coach at Hawaii, helping UH to back-to-back winning seasons including a 10-5 mark and a Hawaii Bowl win over BYU in 2019. Smith also had a prior four-year stint at Hawaii from 2008-11. Altogether, Smith has coached 20 NFL players and six All-Americans during his time as a collegiate coach.
 
Smith was a long snapper and center at Hawaii from 1998-01 before signing professional contracts with the Baltimore Ravens (2002) and Green Bay Packers (2003). He earned his bachelor's degree from Hawaii and continued his education at California Lutheran, earning his master's degree. Smith and his wife, Liane, have one daughter, Chloe.
 
The Bobcats defeated Jacksonville State in the StaffDNA Cure Bowl on Dec. 20.

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