CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Bob Smith, offensive line coach for one season at the University of Illinois, Monday was named coach at Southern Illinois.
Smith, 48, replaces Rick Rhoades, who resigned Jan. 20 after one season to become an assistant coach at Alabama.
Smith signed a multi-year contract, Fred Huff, SIU's sports information director, said. The exact length of the contract was not released pending action by the SIU board of trustees.
'I've always had a goal to be a head football coach at a major Illinois university,' Smith said in a statement. 'That prompted my return to the U of I. I can tell you I'm very excited about coming to SIU, as I respect it as being the No. 2 university in the state.
'The opportunity to become SIU head football coach is one I simply could not pass up despite the fact I have tremendous loyalty to the U of I and to head coach John Mackovic.'
Athletic Director Jim Hart said seven candidates, including SIU acting coach Jim Tompkins, were interviewed. Huff said the school spoke to a dozen others.
'We are excited about having Bob Smith join our staff as we firmly believe he can carry on the spirit established here by Rick Rhoades and his staff,' Hart said.
Smith's only head coaching college experience was at Southeast Missouri State, where he was 17-26-1 in four seasons (1984-87). Southeast Missouri was 6-4-1 during his final season and tied for the conference championship.
Before coming to Southeast Missouri, Smith was an assistant for six seasons at Illinois under Gary Moeller and Mike White.
'I like to run an offense that scores touchdowns ... and I'll structure the offense to fit the personnel,' said Smith, adding he believes the way to build a strong program is through defense.
Smith told a news conference he planned to meet later in the day with the assistant coaches and players. He said he was not going to rule out any of the current assistants.
The Salukis were 4-7 last season under Rhoades. They were 17-27 in four seasons under Ray Dorr after winning the NCAA Division I-AA national championship in 1983 under Rey Dempsey.
