Former football coach dies at 68

Coach Smith started an alliance with the Central Missouri Food Bank.

By Campbell Massie

Published Feb. 1, 2008

Former players and coworkers, including Barry Odom, MU’s assistant athletic director for football operations, will remember former MU football coach Larry Smith as a hardworking coach who was devoted to his team.

“He cared about people, but he demanded a great deal out of his team and his players,” Odom said. “But we also knew that he cared about us. He definitely had the qualities of a leader, but also he was able to get the most out of people.”

Coach Smith died Monday in a hospital in Tucson, Ariz., after a long illness. He was 68.

Coach Smith worked as a coach at Tulane University, the University of Arizona, the University of Southern California and finally at MU.

“He had tremendous success throughout his entire career,” Odom said. “I think that it is because he knew a lot about the game–obviously (about) X’s and O’s, but also he knew how to direct and lead the program.”

Smith came to MU in 1994 after 13 years of disappointing football seasons for the MU football team.

In the six years that he was in Columbia, Coach Smith revived the program and laid the foundation for future successes for the team, Odom said.

“I know he was proud of this place and proud of the job that he did here,” Odom said. “He and his wife and his entire family really had a passion — and they still do — for the University.”

Coach Smith brought new life to the team. He took MU to the Holiday Bowl game in 1997 and their first bowl game victory in more than 17 years in the 1998 Insight.com Bowl.

Coach Smith left MU in 2000 after a disappointing 1999 season.

In Coach Smith’s seven years at MU, his team went 33-46-1. All of his teams had a combined record of 143-126-7 over his 24-year career.

Coach Smith brought a special brand of mental and physical toughness to the field along with a great deal of discipline, said Mark Alnutt, MU associate athletic director and a former player under Smith.

“He was so well-liked as a coach that he was able to transform a couple of those teams that athletically might not have been one of the top teams in the Big 12 at the time,” Alnutt said.

Coach Smith was able to make an impression on his players and his community beyond the football field. Former players, including Alnutt and Odom, both maintained friendship with him after their time at MU ended along with several other players throughout the years.

Smith also dedicated a great deal of his time to his family, friends and the community. He started the football team’s alliance with the Central Missouri Food Bank to give food to underprivileged people across mid-Missouri.

“He was more or less a down-to-earth person that really had a passion for what he did, whether it was coaching footbal–obviously–or it was to a charity of his choice,” Alnutt said.

Coach Smith is survived by his wife, Cheryl; his two children, Colby and Alli; and several grandchildren. Services will be held Monday in Tucson, Ariz.