Jacksonville State football names Rod Smith offensive coordinator

Jacksonville State football announced the hiring of Rod Smith as the new offensive coordinator under coach Rich Rodriguez.

Smith will also serve as the quarterbacks coach. He is replacing Calvin Magee, who died from a heart attack last month.

Mike DiAngelo will shift over to coach the tight ends and inside receivers.

Smith will reunite with who he has previously played and coached under. He was a quarterback under Rodriguez from 1993-96 at Glenville State. He was an All-American and team captain.

Rodriguez brought on Smith as quarterbacks coach at West Virginia in 2007,  quarterbacks coach at Michigan from 2008-10 and as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arizona from 2012-17.

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After his stint at Arizona, Smith was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Illinois from 2018-20. He served as the interim head coach for the Illini at the end of the 2020 season when Lovie Smith was fired.

Illinois lost the only game under Rod Smith 56-21 to Penn State.

Smith served as an analyst at Virginia in 2021 and was most recently with Penn State.

Smith helped lead the Illini to the 2019 RedBox Bowl, their first appearance in a bowl game in five seasons.

According to 247Sports, Smith helped Michigan land four-star recruits like Devin Gardner, Tate Forcier, and Jeremy Gallon.

Smith brings over 25 years of coaching experience to Jacksonville and has coached in 11 bowl games.

Contact Ehsan Kassim at 256-300-5313 or ekassim@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Jacksonville State football names Rod Smith as offensive coordinator