Smith Rejoins the Bruins

Homer Smith, who twice previously was hired as offensive coordinator at UCLA after losing seasons, will return for a third tenure, football Coach Terry Donahue announced Wednesday.

Smith will be asked to resurrect a Bruin offense that ranked ninth in the Pacific 10 Conference last season, when UCLA’s 3-7-1 record was its worst in 18 years.

In only their second losing season in 14 under Donahue, the Bruins accumulated their lowest rushing yardage total since 1964 and their lowest passing yardage total since 1981.

Quarterback Bret Johnson didn’t lead a second-half touchdown drive in UCLA’s last seven games, five of them losses, and the Bruins didn’t get a 100-yard rushing game from any of their running backs for the first time since 1963.

“I feel this is a very positive step toward regaining the stature our program enjoyed throughout the ‘80s,” Donahue said in a statement released by UCLA. “Homer is an outstanding strategist and a fine teacher of the game.”

Said Smith, also quoted in the release: “I’m grateful to Terry Donahue and UCLA for the opportunity and the challenge. Some of my happiest memories in coaching are from my years at UCLA.”

Considered one of football’s most brilliant offensive coaches, Smith, 58, was first hired at UCLA by former coach Pepper Rodgers after the 1971 season.

Rodgers, 2-7-1 in his first season with the Bruins, was 17-5 in the next two with Smith as his offensive coordinator. UCLA averaged 471 total yards a game in 1973, establishing a school record that still stands.

Donahue first hired Smith after the 1979 team was 5-6, and UCLA then enjoyed the most successful run in its history. With Smith serving as offensive coordinator, the Bruins won Rose Bowl games after the 1982, ’83 and ’85 seasons.

Smith, though, was hired away after the 1986 season by the Kansas City Chiefs.

He spent the last two seasons at Alabama, where last fall junior quarterback Gary Hollingsworth established several school records and the Crimson Tide was 10-2, reaching the Sugar Bowl, where it lost to Miami, 33-25.

Smith made himself available to UCLA, he told reporters in Alabama, because he didn’t like the way former Alabama Coach Bill Curry handled his move this week to Kentucky.

Smith will be missed in Alabama.

After Curry announced Sunday that he was resigning, Crimson Tide center Roger Schultz told the Birmingham (Ala.) Post-Herald: “We’re going over to Coach Smith’s house to kidnap him and beat on him until he agrees to stay.”

At the time, though, Smith was already in Los Angeles with Donahue, who told a reporter last month that Smith was “more capable of getting the most out of a football player than anyone I’ve ever been around.”

Neither Smith nor Donahue was available for comment.

Smith’s hiring was greeted with excitement by UCLA players.

“There’s probably 250 days until our next game, but as of right now, everybody seems pretty fired up to get things turned around,” said Jim Bonds, expected to be involved in a three-way fight for the starting quarterback position this spring with Johnson and freshman Tommy Maddox. “A lot of hope has been restored now that Homer’s coming. He’s going to help our recruiting and our attitudes because of the success he’s had.”

Said tight end Rick Daly: “Everyone is really happy about it. Talk is, we’re going to the Rose Bowl next year.”

Smith, who will coach the Bruin quarterbacks, replaces Greg Robinson, who served as offensive coordinator for one season after spending most of his coaching career as a defensive coach.

Last month, Robinson was named assistant head coach, assigned to rebuild the Bruin defense.

Former UCLA quarterback Rick Neuheisel, who coached the Bruin quarterbacks the last two seasons, will be reassigned to wide receivers.