In seven seasons, Smith and his ever-changing coaching staff failed to shine as recruiters. Mizzou's efforts in the rich St. Louis market have been especially woeful. Through Smith's entire regime, special team tragedies consistently undermined whatever progress was being made on the field. And Smith's personal area of expertise is special teams play. The 1999 Tigers team, beset by turmoil and dissension, crumbled down the stretch.
Players quit and coaches turned on each other.
A big chunk of the 2000 recruiting class turned up ineligible, at a point when this regime could afford it the least. This season's team showed more life under a rebuilt coaching staff, but it was doomed by previous recruiting failures. Mizzou tried to play a modern spread offense with below-average skill players, with predictable results. An honest assessment of the Tigers program today would put it no better than 10th in the tough Big 12 Conference. We would all agree that Smith did great things for Missouri.