Nov. 5, 2005
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -
JOE SUNNEN, THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
Western Washington University football coach Rob Smith walked over to the side of the Vikings' practice field on Tuesday and took a seat along the cement barrier around the school's track, something he's been doing for interviews the past couple of weeks.
He looked a little tired and perhaps already a little sad to begin the process of saying goodbye to a team he's known for the past 19 years and a job he's held the past 17.
"There is just something about this, being out on the field, that makes you feel at home," Smith said. "Whatever it is I do next, I know I won't have the feeling that I have doing what I've been doing."
In his heart and his head, he has decided it's time to move on. WWU meets Western Oregon University today at 1 p.m. at Civic Stadium. It will be Smith's last game with the Vikings after 17 seasons as head of the program.
"Coach Smith was the face of Western football," said Greg Malo, a former player and now an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech University in a phone interview. "He took the program and put it on a national stage. He made us proud to tell people we went to Western and proud to say we were Vikings."
Smith, who announced his resignation from the head coaching position on Sunday, said he has no plans for the immediate future.
"I'm 48, and my wife thinks it's a midlife crisis. I won't say that, but I'm kind of excited by a new challenge," Smith said. "What that would be, I don't know."
He will stay on at WWU for at least another week to tie-up loose ends and conduct the usual exit interviews with players.
"I've got 17 years of garbage in my office that I need to clean up," Smith said. "But really, I want to make sure we wrap it up properly with the players."
Smith said he likely isn't finished with coaching but right now isn't sure that is what he will be doing next.
"Coaching is who I am and what I do," Smith said. "I hope that I do come back to coaching some day. I am not ruling that out by any means." Smith's record entering today's game is 109-61-1. He leaves the Vikings as the winningest coach in school history and the third winningest collegiate coach in the state of Washington.
Many of Smith's friends and former colleagues would be surprised if he stayed away from coaching for long.
"I know that Rob has some other opportunities outside of football, some things in the business world," said friend and former assistant coach Scott Bostwick in a phone interview. "And he would be very good at that. But I wouldn't be surprised to see him get offered some football positions when the season is over."
Bostwick served as the Vikings' defensive coordinator for four years in the early 1990s and is still close with Smith. He is currently the defensive coordinator at Northwest Missouri State University.
"I don't see Rob staying away for long," Bostwick said. "I think this was just more of a way for him to juice up his batteries."
Smith spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Renton High School before coming to WWU in 1987 to pursue a master's degree. He joined the coaching staff as an assistant and became the head coach in 1989, replacing Paul Hansen.
"I had never been a head coach at any level before and Western took a chance on me," Smith said. "For that, I will be forever grateful."
Smith's resignation announcement came with a week left in the season and a day after a difficult 31-28 loss to rival Central Washington University on Oct. 29 at Civic Stadium.
"I had been contemplating this decision for quite some time," Smith said. "I did it then because the emotional impact of that game and everything else combined with that was really building up inside me. I just decided walking off the field that it was time. I don't know if there is a good time, but I knew what my decision was going to be, so I made it."
The news wasn't exactly shocking to those who are close to him, but the timing was a surprise.
"I had questions sometimes because he wasn't getting as excited about the wins," senior Andy Olson said. "I wondered at times, but I really had no idea. I was surprised he decided to do it then."
Smith said coaching at the NCAA Division I level is not likely in his future plans. He played fullback at the University of Washington, helping the Huskies to the Rose Bowl in 1978.
"I really have ruled out Division I football," Smith said. "You know I played there and I've seen both sides of it. It's really just time for me to spend more time with my family and re-evaluate what it is that I want to do."
Vikings enter emotional final game
Seniors, coaches to say goodbye
JOE SUNNEN, THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
If it rains today, maybe it will be enough to hide some of the tears expected at Civic Stadium during the Western Washington University football team's final game of the season.
Seventeen seniors, head coach Rob Smith and assistant coach Terry Todd will be bidding farewell during today's game against Western Oregon University.
A pregame ceremony to honor those leaving is scheduled for 12:50 p.m. with kickoff slated for 1 p.m.
Emotions will be running high.
"The seniors are what's important here," Smith said. "Like all senior classes, these guys will be sorely missed. I think they have a lot to be proud of."
There would be no better way for the Vikings to say good-bye to their coaches and seniors than with a win.
WWU (4-5, 3-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) defeated the Wolves 38-16 on Oct. 15 in Monmouth, Ore. WOU (3-6, 1-4 GNAC) enters the game having lost four of their last five.
"The bottom line is that we have a game to play," Smith said. "In that regard, this week can't be any different than any other week. We have to stay focused on getting the job done."
Vikings quarterback James Monrean will likely start today, despite suffering a high ankle sprain in the fourth quarter of last Saturday's loss to Central Washington. Monrean ranks among the top 20 in the NCAA Division II in total offense and has thrown for 19 touchdowns this year.
If he can't play, sophomore A.J. Porter will make his first career start.
"James is moving around well enough to where I think we'll have him for the game," Smith said. "But we'll be getting A.J. ready as well."
The Wolves have one of the better running backs in the GNAC in Eliot Vinzant and one of the biggest tight ends in Kevin Boss. Vinzant has 788 yards and six touchdowns this season, while Boss has 43 catches for seven touchdowns.
Despite all that, it will probably be difficult for the Vikings to think only about what's happening on the field.
"We want to go out on a win," senior Andy Olson said. "We don't want to end our career on a loss. We don't want coach to go out on a loss. We just want to end the season the right way if we can."
That's something Smith would like to see his team do also.
"I feel bad that we weren't able to give these seniors some of the success that we were able to give some of the other senior classes," Smith said. "When I say that, I'm talking about the last three years where we have been basically a .500 ball club. That's something they deserved, unfortunately it just didn't happen that way."
Rob Smith led Vikings football to greatness
Today marks the final appearance of Rob Smith as coach of the Western Washington University football team.
We join with fans, colleagues and current and former players in saluting his 17 years of dedication to the school and to the greater community.
Smith is responsible for creating nearly everything good associated with what has become a winning program loved by students and county residents.
Smith, 48, announced last week that he is stepping down. His final game is today at Civic Stadium against Western Oregon University.
Smith has been a winner at Western, compiling a 109-61-1 record, the school record for wins. His .643 winning percentage is also a school record.
He has overseen the growth of Western from a small-school program with low expectations to an NCAA, Division II national contender. When Smith arrived at the school in 1987 as an assistant coach, Western had just finished its ninth consecutive losing season. When he took over as head coach in 1989 the team finished 7-2, its best record in 38 years.
Smith led the Vikings to winning records in 12 of his first 16 seasons at the helm, matching the number the school had in 37 seasons before he arrived as an assistant coach.
He earned conference coach of the year seven times, was the American Football Coaches Association's College Division Region V Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1996. He led the Vikings to all of their five playoff appearances and took the team to the NAIA Division II national championship game in 1996, a year the team won a record 11 games.
He ranks third in total victories in the history of college football coaches in Washington state.
Because of Smith's work, Western football games are now a happening in Whatcom County. Citizens who for years paid little or no attention to football here began showing up for Saturday games against archrivals such as Central Washington University and Pacific Lutheran University.
Students now routinely make the trip off campus to Civic Stadium to watch the Vikings play.
Perhaps as importantly as his winning record though, Smith has always held himself and his players to high ethical standards - you won't find any of the scandals that have plagued big college football at Western. He is beloved by his players and ex-players, who consider him a mentor and role model.
It will be very different on Saturdays at Civic Stadium without Rob Smith roaming the sidelines. But he can rest assured that because of his good, hard work, many of us will continue to support the program he made great.
