2014 WholeHogSports Assistant Coach of the Year

Smith turned defense around

Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith directs his players as linebacker Alex Brignoni listens during practice Thursday, March 20, 2014, at the UA practice field in Fayetteville.

Editor's Note: This is the first of a four-part series highlighting the best coaches and athletes at the University of Arkansas in 2014.

HOUSTON - When Arkansas had a vacancy for its defensive coordinator position earlier this year, Robb Smith wasn't on the radar for any outside the program.

The former Rutgers defensive coordinator had spent the season before as an assistant coach in the NFL and had never coached college football south of Iowa. But it was there as a graduate assistant coach he and Bret Bielema met in 1999, forming a relationship that would reunite them on a grander scale 15 years later.

It wasn't a widely popular hire back in February. Many fans were vocally upset Bielema didn't hire a coach with more name appeal, including Razorbacks assistant coach Randy Shannon, a former Broyles Award winner as the defensive coordinator at Miami.

But as is often the case, results can drown out the negativity and Smith has gotten results from his unit. After ranking 76th nationally in total defense last season under defensive coordinator Chris Ash, Arkansas moved up to 13th following an unprecedented effort against Texas in the Texas Bowl.

The Razorbacks held Texas to 59 yards of offense - the lowest output this season in major college football - including two rushing yards. The Longhorns had only seven first downs.

Despite playing one more game, the Razorbacks allowed 86.5 fewer yards and 11.2 fewer points per game than the season before. It has been a remarkable turnaround noticed by just about everyone.

"I think I’ve seen a guy that his players on that side of the ball really respond to and love playing for," said Arkansas tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. "I think they sit and listen to every word he says and every bit of instruction he gives them. They’ve soaked it up like sponges. You see a really healthy relationship over there. Obviously, what he’s done has been fantastic, and I know he hasn’t done it by himself, but he spearheaded it."

Smith's approach to the Razorbacks' defense sounds simple. The first step was to assign an assistant coach to each of the three positions on the defense - line, linebackers and secondary.

It was the first time any of the defensive assistant coaches had worked together and three, including Smith, were new to the program.

"Each of those guys has a lot of pride, a lot pride in their players and a lot of pride in their position room," Smith said. "That’s something special to be a part of.

Before spring practices began in March, Smith and other defensive coaches worked to simplify pre-snap verbal communication, which was something Bielema said had been too complicated the year before under Ash. Once practices began, Smith harped on tackling better.

"I think we’ve improved in tackling and I think we’ve made some big strides, especially late in the season, in terms of disrupting the football," Smith said. "We’re close to the football earlier on and we’ve had the opportunity to get a few turnovers here down the stretch.

"I think our guys played hard. I think they enjoyed playing the game of football and I know this, if you don’t have that going for you, you don’t have a chance."

The emphasis on tackling was evident. Though the Razorbacks don't publicly track the number of missed tackles, they were down from the year before.

Linebacker Martrell Spaight led the Southeastern Conference with 123 tackles. Five players had at least 59 tackles, including linebacker Brooks Ellis, who missed two games because of an injury.

"What they’ve been able to teach our guys about tackling is, without question, the biggest difference that I’ve seen," Lunney said. "We’re very good tacklers and that’s the name of the game on defense once you get them in a great structural place, which all of those guys have done."

Arkansas continued to improve defensively throughout the season, particularly over the final five games in which they gave up 55 points combined. After giving up big plays late in close losses to Texas A&M and Mississippi State, the Razorbacks finally put everything together in their final two home games.

Back-to-back shutout wins over LSU and Ole Miss were the highlights of the regular season. It was the first time Arkansas had ever shut out SEC opponents in consecutive games.

"We’ve made improvements," Smith said, "but as soon as you stop to rest on your laurels, that’s when the rest of the world passes you by. So we’re going to stay hard at work and we’ll eventually get to where we want to be."

Still, Smith acknowledges the improvement in year one and hopes it is a sign of things to come for the Razorbacks.

"There’s still quite a ways to get to where we want to get to, but you can see light now at the end of the tunnel," Smith said. "That’s exciting for our guys."