Rich Rodriguez wasn’t in the spotlight early in his career. Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

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Ah, the good ol’ days. Rich Rodriguez remembers those. Becoming the head coach at Salem University at 24 years old. Taking over at Glenville State two years later, in 1990.

The small college days.

These days, as the first-year head coach at Arizona — and as a guy who has won Big East titles and breathed the air at Michigan — Rodriguez is accustomed to coaching luxury. Assistants to the assistants to the assistants. Yes sir, Coach. Whatever you need, Coach.

Back then, he was just a one-man band making his way in the backwaters of the coaching world.

“My wife lined off the field when I was at Glenville. She was eight months pregnant,” Rodriguez said.

“I made her stop because I was afraid it was going to screw up the child with those fumes from the paint. I said, ‘Honey, I don’t think that’s really good for ol’ junior there.’”

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Rod Smith

Arizona Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez has added another familiar face to his coaching staff — Rod Smith, who coached under Rodriguez at West Virginia and Michigan.

Smith will be the quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator with Calvin Magee, who arrived Wednesday with receivers coach Tony Dews and defensive backs coach Tony Gibson.

All four of the assistants on the new staff worked with Rodriguez at West Virginia and Michigan. Smith played for Rodriguez at Glenville State.

Smith, 38, helped develop Pat White at West Virginia and Denard Robinson at Michigan in Rodriguez’s zone-read offense. Smith ran the offense as a quarterback at Glenville State from 1993 to 1996.

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