Former UA coach Larry Smith dies at age 68

[Dback Jon]

Beat ASU five in a row - probably Arizona's best coach in the last few decades...


Lots of coverage here:

http://www.azstarnet.com/sports/

 

[Renz]

That's a shame. Smith was head coach when I started there in 1985. He made the game fun and also won games. He'll be missed.

RIP Larry.

 

[Skkorpion]

I liked the guy. Didn't he defect to USC and piss off all of Tucson? Can't clearly remember.

 

[Lefty]

He probably is the best coach the UofA had. He had so many big wins:
-beating #1 USC at the Coliseum
-beating #2 ranked UCLA
-beating beating in 1982 & 1985 to knock them out of the Rose Bowl. Also beating undefeated and #4 ranked ASU in 1986.
-beating #6 Notre Dame in South Bend
-beating #5 ranked SMU

Larry said he enjoyed his stay at the UofA better than any other place he coached. You could not blame him for taking the USC job but at the time I was mad at the way he left. I eventually got over it and was glad to see Larry come back . He retired in Tucson and covered the UofA football team for Fox 11.

Thanks for the great memories Larry!

 

[BigRedMO]

He was a good coach at MIZZOU too. Just this Fall he came back to Columbia tfor one of his Tiger teams to be honored. Seems like he was just the head coach here not that long ago. Had he been in ill health?

 

[Renz]

He was a good coach at MIZZOU too. Just this Fall he came back to Columbia for one of his Tiger teams to be honored. Seems like he was just the head coach here not that long ago. Had he been in ill health?

Yes, he had had leukemia for awhile.

 

[Mulli]

As a kid, I had an extreme dislike for the guy, but only because he coached the evil empire to the South. His passing is sad.