Smigiel Leaves CS Long Beach for Arizona

Former Newbury Park High standout Joe Smigiel on Wednesday transferred to Arizona from Cal State Long Beach, which dropped its football program Dec. 10 because of a lack of funds.

Smigiel, a 6-foot-5, 265-pound offensive tackle, has three seasons of eligibility remaining.

After being named an All-Ventura County lineman as a senior in 1989, Smigiel redshirted at Long Beach the following year. He missed the 1991 season after undergoing reconstructive surgery on a knee that he injured during spring drills.

Colorado State and Arizona State were among his choices after recent visits, but he ruled out the former because of the distance from home and the cold weather and the latter because of what he regarded as a cold reception from new Coach Bruce Snyder, formerly of California, and his staff.

“They didn’t treat me very nice,” Smigiel said. “They all acted like they are the best thing since sliced bread. They said, ‘If you come here, we’re gonna go to a bowl game every year.’ They were really cocky.”

Smigiel also was miffed when Sun Devil offensive line coach Dan Cozzetto missed a meeting with him.

When the two finally got together, Cozzetto told Smigiel that he would have to walk on because his level of play was not up to par and because his knee was not sound.

Snyder and Cozzetto were unavailable for comment.

Smigiel said that the encouragement offered by Arizona offensive line coach Pat Hill was like a breath of fresh air. He traveled to Tucson on Wednesday night and was expected to enroll today.

“I’m pretty excited to finally be going to a real Division I school,” Smigiel said.