The start of Jonathan Smith's playing career at Oregon State in 1997 came inauspiciously enough that legendary Beavers running back Ken Simonton can't remember meeting the former quarterback.

Receivers soon started to chatter about the freshman walk-on who would go on to rewrite the OSU record book and preside over one of the great eras in program history.

"We had definitely been in the midst of things for a few weeks before I probably paid him any notice," Simonton said Wednesday in a phone interview. "By that point, he was already starting to make a name for himself."

Oregon State hired Smith, 38, on Wednesday as the 17th head football coach in program history.

The Oregonian/OregonLive first reported the news, and multiple reports have since said the former Washington offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach signed a five-year contract with OSU. The Beavers will officially introduce Smith at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Twenty years after he first arrived at Oregon State, Smith will attempt to rejuvenate the Beavers football program for the second time. He was a walk-on in the first recruiting class Mike Riley brought to Corvallis and went on to become a four-year starter from 1998-2001. Smith led Oregon State in both career passing yards (9,680) and touchdown passes (55) by the end of his career. He now ranks third in both categories.

He was the MVP of the Fiesta Bowl when the Beavers beat Notre Dame to finish the 2000 season at 11-1, considered by many the peak in OSU football history.

Smith's hiring after a 1-11 season energized a fan base hungry to turn the page after the abrupt midseason departure of former coach Gary Andersen. Given his connections to the university, Smith was a popular name for the position among boosters. Smith, Cal offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin and OSU interim coach Cory Hall are the three candidates known to have formally interviewed for the job, which was filled 52 days after Andersen's departure.

Smith was a graduate assistant at Oregon State from 2002-03 under Dennis Erickson and then Mike Riley. He went on to serve as quarterbacks coach at Idaho (2004-09), offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Montana (2010-11), and then quarterbacks coach at Boise State (2012-13) under Chris Petersen. When Petersen left for Washington following the 2013 season, Smith joined his staff as the Huskies' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Simonton said Smith openly discussed one day becoming a head coach during their Oregon State playing careers and that the full-circle nature of his arrival would help revive the Beavers after going 7-29 over the past three seasons. During that period, season ticket totals have dropped from more than 20,000 in 2014 to 17,177 this season.

"Where we were (after Andersen left) was really in such a worse predicament than I think we've ever been in," Simonton said. "So, to have an Oregon Stater come back, first and foremost, you have commitment. ... You don't worry about him walking out early. I think he just brings that faith back to Beaver Nation that one of our own is home."

On Wednesday, before the official announcement, OSU greats Steven Jackson and Derek Anderson were among the former players who tweeted their support of the hire.

Oregon City High School football coach Dustin Janz first met Smith as a fifth-grader at Sellers Elementary School in Glendora, California, a town in east of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley. The recruitment of Janz led OSU coaches to Smith, who Janz said was a diligent and studious worker. While others enjoyed the various facets of college life, Smith read books on leadership philosophy.

"He's always been in the top two or three guys alumni are looking toward to bring back that feeling of, 'We're good enough and can compete,'" said Janz, a former OSU lineman.

Smith spent the last three years coaching quarterback Jake Browning, whose father, Ed, played quarterback at Oregon State. Browning started as a freshman in 2015 and led the Pac-12 in passer rating each of the past two seasons.

UW led the Pac-12 in scoring with 41.8 points per game in 2016 as the Huskies reached the College Football Playoff, but dropped to second this season (36.9) after losing wide receiver and NFL first-rounder John Ross III and dealing with multiple injuries.

Smith's unassuming, quiet public personality has led to questions in some segments of the OSU fan base. Pac-12 Network football analyst Yogi Roth said those concerns were unfounded, calling Smith an "incredible hire."

"If you don't have a strong personality, you're not taking command of a huddle with Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh and playing for Dennis Erickson," Roth said. "... I think people need to look past the YouTube videos of him speaking after games."

News of Smith's hire came three weeks before the start of a new three-day early signing period for recruits. Roth said Andersen went through a "steep learning curve" determining whom to bring into Corvallis. Smith recruited the Los Angeles and Portland areas while at Washington, where Janz said he was a consistent visitor even in years when he did not have elite prospects.

"Sometimes at Oregon State, you got to take a chance on a guy who might be a diamond in the rough," Janz said. "That fits right into who he is and where he's come from."

Smith will need to assemble a staff, as OSU parted ways this week with all assistants except for Hall, whose future is uncertain. Oregon defensive backs coach and former Smith teammate Keith Heyward has emerged as an early possibility. Whatever Smith decides, those around him say he would arrive with a plan securely in place.

"This is something from the time we were 18, 19 years old, is all he prepared for," Simonton said. "To get an opportunity -- and especially at your alma mater -- I don't think there's a better story going right now."

-- Danny Moran