University of Arkansas under head coach Bobby Petrino, his former assistant. Weber State Following his third year as an assistant at Arkansas in 2011, Smith left in December to lead his fifth Division I program at Weber State, his alma mater, an FCS program in the Big Sky Conference. He succeeded Ron McBride, who retired after seven seasons with the Wildcats. Smith coached the Wildcats through spring drills in April, but left days later to replace Petrino at Arkansas, who had been recently fired. Arkansas On April 10, 2012, the University of Arkansas fired head coach Bobby Petrino. Almost immediately, there was considerable media speculation that Smith would return to Arkansas, and replace Petrino. This was confirmed less than two weeks after the firing of Petrino, when multiple media outlets reported that Smith would indeed return to Arkansas. He was introduced as Arkansas' 29th full-time head coach the next day. The event was a reversal of roles as it was now Smith replacing Petrino as head coach; Petrino succeeded Smith at Louisville following Smith's departure in 2003. Smith signed a 10-month contract, leading to speculation that he was only taking the post on an interim basis for the 2012 season. The Razorbacks' formal announcement described him as "head coach", without any qualifiers; however, it also indicated that Smith's hiring would allow Arkansas to hire "a head coach for the future of the program" in a more appropriate timeframe following the 2012 season. Coming off only the second 11-win season in school history, expectations were very high for the Razorbacks despite the acrimonious nature of Petrino's firing. However, they never recovered from a September, and ultimately finished . On November 24, the university announced that Smith would not be retained as head coach, but would serve as a consultant to the team until his contract ran out in February 2013. Fort Lewis On January 16, 2013, Smith was introduced as the head coach at Fort Lewis College, a Division II team in Durango, Colorado. He took over a Skyhawks program that was 0–10 in 2012, last in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). In his three years at the helm, the Skyhawks went overall and in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Fort Lewis notched seven wins in 2015, including six in conference games (7–4, 6–3 RMAC). The last time the Skyhawks notched seven wins in a season was 2006, during Ed