John L. Smith has been one of the quirkiest and most interesting individuals to coach college football over the last few decades.

During the Bobby Petrino controversy at Arkansas, Smith took over as the interim coach back in 2012 — after serving in his role as the special teams coach for three years.



After an unceremonious 4-8 finish, Smith was relieved of his duties.

Fast-forward to today, and Smith appears on the verge of a National Title…in the Division II ranks.

He’s the head coach of Kentucky State University. His Thorobreds upset heavily favored Albany State in order to feature in the title game versus Fort Valley State.

KSU joined the SIAC in 1997. This is the first time in which the program has featured in the SIAC championship game.

As told to ABC 36, Smith is very excited about the contest:

“We have to go into this game with focus. This would be very special for these guys to go out as conference champions. We’re going to have to leave it all out on the field in all three aspects.”

There’s no word on whether Smith plans on making his team smile.