USU Football Hires Veteran RB Coach Deandre Smith

Utah State football filled in for the departure of one veteran coach with another when it announced the hiring of 19-year coach Deandre Smith on Wednesday.

Smith joins the staff after having spent last season at the North Carolina as a running backs coach and was at Purdue the year before that. Ironically, Purdue is where Smith’s predecessor, Mark Tommerdahl, is now coaching.

“DeAndre is an excellent addition to our football staff here at Utah State and fits well in a lot of areas with our staff,” said USU head coach Matt Wells. “He is a tremendous football coach and does a great job coaching running backs. DeAndre is an excellent recruiter and someone that will coach our kids hard with a lot of love.”

During Smith’s year with the Tar Heels, UNC navigated its way through a dismal and injury-plagued 3-9 campaign. Smith managed to keep the running game as established as the year before despite the loss of star back Elijah Hood, who now plays for the Oakland Raiders. UNC’s running game totaled 1730 yards on the season, averaging 4.1 yards per carry.

Of Smith’s many coaching stops through his career, the most notable is his time at New Mexico, where he previously coached alongside Wells and guided the running game to nearly 2500 total yards gained.

“I am extremely honored and fortunate to have this opportunity to work with Coach Wells and the rest of his staff,” Smith said. “I’m really excited about the opportunity of doing my part to help this program win a Mountain West Championship.”

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