LSU-bound Ole Miss assistant won’t return to Rebels for remainder of Playoff, per report
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
If Ole Miss is go all the way in the College Football Playoff, it will reportedly have to do so without the services of running backs coach Kevin Smith.
Smith was initially part of Lane Kiffin’s Rebels staff in 2020 and 2021 and went to Miami for a year before returning to Oxford. He’s now set to join Kiffin at LSU.
It appears that time might be sooner rather than later. According to 247Sports’ Chase Parham, Smith won’t be on the Rebels’ sideline for the rest of the Playoff as he focuses on his LSU duties.
While that might raise a few questions about Charlie Weis Jr. and whether he’ll transition to LSU before the Playoff ends, Parham reports that the offensive coordinator is “likely” to see Ole Miss’s season out.
Smith has coached his share of terrific running backs while at Ole Miss. Kewan Lacy came over from Mizzou in the offseason and is the nation’s third-leading rusher. Quinshon Judkins, a three-star recruit whose primary recruiter was Smith, ran for over 1,000 yards in both of his seasons with Ole Miss and was a top 10 running back in FBS as a true freshman.
With Smith now headed to LSU, he’ll look to build on his track record of success.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
