Bret Bielema has rounded out his football staff by hiring Michael Smith from Kansas State as his new wide receivers coach. Smith replaces George McDonald, who left to be the offensive coordinator at Syracuse.
Smith was named one of the top 10 recruiters in the Big 12 Conference in 2012 by Rivals. He spent the first 11 years of his coaching career at Kansas State and was the running backs coach at Rice in 2006 before moving to Arizona for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. He coached running backs his first season before moving to coach inside receivers. He returned to Kansas State in 2009 as the Wildcats’ wide receivers coach.
During his playing career at Kansas State Smith was one the Big Eight’s all-time great receivers. He concluded his playing career as the Big Eight’s second-leading receiver with 179 receptions.
“During my two seasons at Kansas State, I learned that Michael Smith is one of the masters of the fundamentals of the game,” Coach Bielema said. “As a player, he was part of building the foundation at Kansas State and as a coach he played an instrumental part in one of the greatest turnarounds for a program in the history of college football. He has a proven track record of leading his student-athletes to reach their full potential. He is also a tremendous recruiter who has very strong ties in his hometown of New Orleans. When I came to Arkansas, I said I wanted to assemble a staff second to none. The administration has shown tremendous support of that goal and Michael Smith completes the group in exciting fashion. Our staff is made up of individuals who have earned respect within the profession and should generate excitement for our program.”
The following are the credentials of the new coaching staff combined:
National Championships: 3
Conference Championships: 29
Rings (National Titles, Conference Titles, Bowl Victories): 67
BCS appearances: 14
BCS victories: 4
Total wins: 1,376
Wins over No. 1 ranked teams: 6
Wins over Top 10 ranked teams: 47
Wins over Top 25 ranked teams: 149
Years Ranked In Top 10 of Final Poll: 25
Years Ranked In Top 25 of Final Poll: 54
Super Bowl MVPs: 2
Years of coaching experience: 174
Years of collegiate coaching experience: 167
Years of NFL coaching experience: 7
Losing seasons: 57
Winning seasons: 130
.500 seasons: 9
Major award winners: 25
All-conference players: 203
All-Americans: 20
NFL First Round Draft selections: 25
Total NFL draft selections: 140
Top 25 recruiting classes (Rivals): 25
Top 25 recruiting classes (Scout): 27
Players who played in Super Bowl: 27 have played in 34
Players who won Super Bowl: 17 have won 20
Academic All-Americans: 21
