Larry Smith ( American football coach ) Larry Smith ( September 12 , 1939 – January 28 , 2008 ) was an American football player and coach . He served as the head football coach at Tulane University ( 1976 – 1979 ) , the University of Arizona ( 1980 – 1986 ) , the University of Southern California ( 1987 – 1992 ) , and the University of Missouri ( 1994 – 2000 ) . In Smith ' s 24 seasons as a head coach , his teams were 143 – 126 – 7 . Early life . Smith was a native of Van Wert , Ohio , where he was a three - sport star at Van Wert High School , graduating in 1957 . He earned an appointment to West Point , but transferred to Bowling Green State University a year later to pursue coaching . He played two - way end at for the Falcons , playing on a small - college national championship team as a sophomore in 1959 ; he won all - league honors as a junior and was team captain as a senior . Smith graduated from Bowling Green in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics , and later earned a Master of Education from Bowling Green in 1967 . Known as a defense - oriented , no - nonsense coach , Smith began coaching as an assistant with Shawnee High School in Lima , Ohio for two seasons ( 1962 – 63 ) and then head coach the next three years ( 1964 – 66 ) . In 1967 he joined Bo Schembechler ' s staff at Miami University , serving as defensive end coach for two seasons . He moved with Schembechler to Michigan , serving as offensive line coach for four seasons ( 1969 – 72 ) . When fellow assistant coach Jim Young ( Also a native of Van Wert , OH and high school football teammate ) was hired as head coach at Arizona , Smith moved with him and served as the assistant head coach / defensive coordinator there for three years ( 1973 – 75 ) . Coaching career . Tulane . After the departure of Bennie Ellender , Tulane hired Smith as the head coach in 1976 . His first team went 2 – 9 , then improved over the following years to 3 – 8 and 4 – 7 . Smith ' s Green Wave teams experienced a break - out year in 1979 : Tulane opened the season defeating # 13 Stanford and later defeated # 19 SMU . In the regular season finale , Tulane defeated rival LSU , 24 – 13 , in the Louisiana Superdome ; the crowd of 73 , 496 remains the highest attendance to see the Green Wave play at the Superdome . Tulane ended the regular season with a 9 – 2 record , ranked # 15 and was invited to play in the 1979 Liberty Bowl . Its first bowl game in six years , Tulane lost to Penn State , 9 – 6 , but Smith ' s ability to finish the season 9 – 3 attracted attention and he was hired away by Arizona . Smith ' s tenure with Tulane ended with a 17 – 27 record . Under his guidance , ten Tulane players earned All - America honors , including two - time All - Americans quarterback Roch Hontas and kicker Eddie Murray as well as offensive tackle Eric Laakso and tight end Rodney Holman . Six of his Tulane players entered the NFL . Arizona . Smith arrived at Arizona in time for the 1980 season , the Wildcats ' third season in the Pacific - 10 Conference ( along with rival Arizona State ( ASU ) , they had joined the former Pacific - 8 in 1978 ) . Smith put great emphasis on in - state recruiting , built up the rivalry game with ASU , and focused the team on what he called " running and hitting " . His first team went 5 – 6 , including a 44 – 7 blowout loss to ASU ; it would be his only losing season at Arizona . The team improved to 6 - 5 during his second season , highlighted by a major 13 – 10 upset of # 1 USC on the road . Under his leadership , the Wildcats became competitive in the conference , began dominating the rivalry with the Sun Devils , and culminated with consecutive bowl appearances in the 1985 Sun Bowl , where a tie with Georgia gave the Wildcats a 8 – 3 – 1 record , and the 1986 Aloha Bowl , where a victory over North Carolina allowed the Wildcats to finish with a 9 – 3 record in his final season . Smith ' s tenure with the Wildcats ended with a 48 – 28 – 3 record . Seven Arizona players earned All - America honors during his tenure , including two - time consensus All - American linebacker Ricky Hunley and All - Americans linebacker Lamonte Hunley ( Ricky ' s younger brother ) , Morris Trophy - winning center Joe Tofflemire , safety Allan Durden , placekicker Max Zendejas , linebacker Byron Evans , and safety Chuck Cecil . Over twenty of Smith ' s Wildcats players went on to play professionally . Southern California . After success at Tulane and Arizona , Smith was hired as USC ' s first coach without previous Trojan ties since Howard Jones in 1925 . His tenure at USC started strong as his first three Trojans teams went 27 – 8 – 1 , won a then - school - record 19 consecutive Pac - 10 games , earned three consecutive Pacific - 10 Conference titles from 1987 – 1989 and went to three consecutive Rose Bowl s . Smith ' s 1988 team was arguably his most successful . With Rodney Peete at quarterback , the Trojans started their season 10 – 0 and defeated # 3 - ranked Oklahoma Sooners football and # 6 - ranked UCLA Bruins football teams . USC ' s Rose Bowl berth - clinching win over UCLA that year was its first - ever against the Bruins in Pasadena since they moved to the Rose Bowl in 1982 . Smith ' s USC team entered their final regular season game ranked # 2 against the # 1 - ranked rival Notre Dame Fighting Irish football ; the Fighting Irish defeated the Trojans , 28 – 10 , en route to a national title . The Trojans went on to play in the Rose Bowl , losing to Michigan . His 1989 team avenged the loss to Michigan in the 1990 Rose Bowl . Smith ' s next two Trojans teams were not as successful , losing the John Hancock Bowl ( now Sun Bowl ) in the 1990 season followed by a difficult 3 – 8 1991 season . The 1990 season was marked by a strained relationship with quarterback Todd Marinovich , culminating in a heated verbal barrage on Smith in full view of a national TV audience during the 1990 bowl loss and Marinovich getting arrested for cocaine possession a month later ; Marinovich soon left for the NFL after his sophomore year . After the 1990 season three players were arrested on charges of sexual assault ( and later acquitted ) , and after spring practice there were the arrests and subsequent convictions of two players in a kidnapping - robbery spree . The 1991 season itself was only the third time the Trojans had had a losing season in over thirty years . The 1992 season proved to be Smith ' s undoing with USC . After a disappointing 6 – 4 – 1 regular season , the then # 23 - ranked Trojans accepted a berth in the 1992 Freedom Bowl , a lower tier bowl game in Anaheim , California , against an unranked Fresno State team in the first match between the two programs . Despite being heavy underdogs , the Trent Dilfer - led Bulldogs won in a 24 – 7 upset victory that angered many USC supporters . Smith caused further furor after the game in declaring that " Names and logos don ' t mean anything . You don ' t beat someone just because of your name and logo . " Within days of the Freedom Bowl loss and his commentary , Smith was fired by USC with three years left on his contract . Smith finished with a 44 – 25 – 3 record at USC , 17 – 17 – 2 in his final three seasons . During his tenure he coached 13 All - American first teamers , including Heisman Trophy - runner - up Rodney Peete , Thorpe Award - winning safety Mark Carrier , linebacker Junior Seau , wide receiver Curtis Conway and defensive tackle Tim Ryan . Thirty - three of his USC players were selected in the NFL Draft , six in the first round . Missouri . After a year away from coaching , Smith was hired before the 1994 season as the 30th head coach of Missouri , replacing Bob Stull , who had been reassigned as assistant athletic director after five losing seasons . His first two Tigers squads went 3 – 8 – 1 and 3 – 8 , however they improved to 5 – 6 in 1996 . The 1997 Tigers finished with a 7 - 4 regular - season record , Mizzou ' s first winning season since 1983 , and were invited to the 1997 Holiday Bowl , where they were defeated by Colorado State , 35 – 24 . The Tigers had another 7 – 4 regular season in 1998 , and were able to cap it with a win in the 1998 Insight . com Bowl against West Virginia , 34 – 31 , to end the season 8 - 4 and ranked # 21 in the final AP Poll . The 1997 - 98 seasons marked Mizzou ' s first back - to - back bowl game s since 1980 - 81 under Warren Powers ' tenure . Smith was rewarded at the end of the 1998 regular season with a new five - year contract that raised his salary from $ 161 , 500 to $ 180 , 000 annually ; he had become one of just four coaches in NCAA history to take four schools to bowl games . The Tigers followed their two bowl seasons with two losing seasons that featured a number of blow - out losses . The 1999 squad went 4 – 7 , gave up a 21 – 0 shut - out loss to rival Kansas , and ended the season with three straight blow - out defeats of 37 – 0 , 51 – 14 and 66 – 0 to Kansas State . Smith ' s 2000 Tigers did not fare better , losing to Clemson ( 62 – 9 ) , Texas ( 47 – 12 ) and rival Kansas ( 38 – 17 ) on their way to a 3 – 8 season . Smith was fired on November 18 , 2000 immediately after the final game of the season , a 28 - 24 loss to Kansas State . During his tenure at Missouri , the team compiled a 33 – 46 – 1 record . Later years . After his coaching career ended , Smith moved back to Tucson and worked as a commentator for Arizona football games on Fox Sports Net , and organized weekend instructional camps twice annually . He also voted in the Harris Poll , part of the Bowl Championship Series equation . He was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 1999 , which would ultimately claim his life . He died in Tucson on January 28 , 2008 . Smith was married to Cheryl ( née Nueenschwander ) ; they had a son , Corby , a daughter , Alicia , and several grandchildren . Corby Smith played at quarterback for both USC and Iowa , graduating from that latter in 1995 and immediately joining his father on the coaching staff of Missouri .