Brian Smith is a California native who's spent almost the entirety of his college coaching career on the West Coast.
Now Smith, whose past experiences include stints at Power 5 program Washington State and an even longer run at Football Bowls Subdivision program Hawaii, is casting a new path in the Midwest.
Smith is joining the Ohio University staff of Tim Albin to serve as the Bobcats' running backs coach and passing game coordinator, per sources.
The move brings Albin's staff back to full-strength after closing out spring down an offensive assistant. The addition of Smith also caps an exhaustive search process that saw other candidates from Power 5 programs emerge in the mix.
A former Hawaii player who spent a total of nine seasons on staff at his alma mater in two separate stints, Smith's offensive background includes work as Occidental's offensive coordinator as well as holding that same post at both Hawaii and Washington State.