Mentor Smith proud of his pupil
Former University of Idaho football coach John L. Smith remembers when Scott Linehan came to his Kibbie Dome office in 1989, hoping to break into the coaching profession.
Smith didn’t sugarcoat the job description to Linehan, the former Vandals quarterback who ranks fifth on the school’s all-time passing yardage list.
“I tried to convince him it wasn’t a good move. You’re going to starve for a period of time and depending on what happens, it might be a while before that boat comes by that picks you up, if at all,” said Smith, now the head coach at Michigan State. “I told him that (Linehan’s wife) Kristen would have to be independent and realize you’re not always going to be there. I tried to be realistic.”
Linehan, who was working for Jostens at the time, wasn’t swayed. He accepted the graduate assistant position and worked with the wide receivers.
“I’m not even sure we got him to $10,000,” Smith said of Linehan’s salary. “That’s where he started.”
Linehan quickly scaled the coaching ladder, rejoining Smith twice more along the way, before breaking into the NFL four years ago. On Thursday, the 42-year-old Sunnyside, Wash., native was named head coach of the St. Louis Rams.
“Dynamite, isn’t it?” Smith said in a phone interview from his office at Michigan State, which will host Idaho in the season opener this fall. “He moved up and up and I hired him back, and then he moved up and up and I hired him back again. When St. Louis called me and wanted to know what I thought, I told them I hired him three times – what does that tell you?”
Linehan had stops at UNLV, Washington and Louisville, the latter under Smith. When the Minnesota Vikings offered Linehan the offensive coordinator position four years ago, Linehan again stopped by Smith’s office.
“He asked what he should do,” Smith said. “I said, ‘I’ll pack your bags for you, you’re going.’ “
After three years with the Vikings, Linehan joined Nick Saban’s staff at Miami as offensive coordinator this season. St. Louis is Linehan’s first head coaching assignment.
“When he was a player, you knew what a great work ethic he had and he was everything you could ask for as a player,” said Smith, who was Idaho’s defensive coordinator under Dennis Erickson when Linehan played from 1982-86. “So why wouldn’t he be that way as a coach? His rise really has been meteoric.”
Smith makes no apologies for the practical advice he gave to Linehan on that day in 1989 or for trying to lure Linehan to the defensive side of the ball early in his UI career. Linehan’s older brother, Ron, was a three-time, first-team All-Big Sky linebacker for the Vandals from 1969-71. Ron died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease in September.
“I tried to get Scotty all the time because he was over there at quarterback with Dennis, and I’d tell him he could come play safety and start right away for us,” said Smith, breaking into laughter. “He never listened to me. Never has.
“I’m so damn proud of the guy.”