Occidental off. coordinator Brian Smith to join Hawaii coaching staff

Occidental College offensive coordinator Brian Smith is joining the offensive staff of new Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich, according to a source.

Occidental College offensive coordinator Brian Smith is joining the offensive staff of new Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich, according to a source.

Smith’s position will be determined later, per the source. It’s a reuniting of him and Rolovich, who played together at Hawaii from 2000–01. Smith was the Rainbow Warriors’ center, while Rolovich was the team’s quarterback. The two were also assistants together at Hawaii from ’08–11.

This season was Smith’s third as Occidental’s offensive coordinator. Before that, he was Cal Lutheran’s offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for a season.

While an assistant at Hawaii, Smith initially coached the offensive line in 2008 before moving to running backs coach his final three seasons. He was Portland State’s offensive line coach in ’07 and a graduate assistant at Oregon State in ’06.

Smith was also an assistant at Cal Lutheran in 2005, coaching running backs and receivers. He was a student assistant at Hawaii in ’04 after being an assistant at Royal High in Simi Valley, Calif., for a season.

Smith signed a contract with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers in 2003 and the Baltimore Ravens in ’02. He played at Hawaii from 1998 through ’01.

The highly regarded Rolovich is considered one of college football’s top young offensive minds. The 36-year-old was hired last month after spending the last four seasons as Nevada’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

When Rolovich was a Hawaii assistant from 2008–11, he spent the first two years as quarterbacks coach before adding offensive coordinator duties as well. While quarterback for the Rainbow Warriors from ’00–01, he passed for 4,176 yards with 40 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 14 games.

He was also a student assistant at Hawaii from 2003–04 and played in NFL Europe and the Arena Football League. He replaces Norm Chow, who was fired early last month after a 2–7 start.

The Rainbow Warriors finished with a 3–10 record this season, including a 0–8 mark in the Mountain West.