The Kentucky Wildcats have made another addition to their coaching staff, and this one comes from within the SEC. Former Arkansas assistant Kolby Smith will become the Wildcats’ next running backs coach,
according to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports.
This may be a name familiar to Kentucky fans, as Smith was a standout running back with the Louisville Cardinals from 2003-06. He accounted for 1,863 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns in his career while catching 56 passes for 581 yards and two scores.
Following his college career, Smith played in the NFL from 2007-10 with the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, and Jacksonville Jaguars before beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Arkansas in 2012. He later became the running backs coach at Western Kentucky under Bobby Petrino.
Smith then followed Petrino back to Louisville to become the Cardinals’ running backs coach from 2014-18, then served in the same role at Rutgers in 2019.
The 41-year-old Smith got his first NFL coaching gig as an offensive quality control coach for the Miami Dolphins (2020-21), then was promoted to offensive assistant (2022-23).
Smith then became the running backs coach at Arkansas and served in that role for the past two seasons.
