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Jan. 3, 2009
OXFORD, Ohio--New Miami Head Football Coach Mike Haywood announced Saturday that BILL ELIAS and ANTOINE SMITH will be joining his staff and serving under Defensive Coordinator CARL "BULL" REESE.
"Bill Elias and Antoine Smith are two very talented coaches," said Haywood.
"Bill and I worked together at LSU. He is an outstanding technician, fundamentalist and teacher of the game. More importantly, he does a tremendous job of mentoring young males into young men, and that's really important in our society today.
"Having an opportunity of meeting Antoine at the University of Notre Dame camps, the energy and passion with which he coached aroused my curiousity and captured my attention. I really liked the enthusiasm with which his players at Youngstown State played and that prompted me to call (YSU head coach) Jon Heacock about Antoine. He gave glorifying remarks and stated that he was a wonderful person. Coach Heacock said that Antoine had tremendous attention to detail, making sure his players were the best students, best players, and exhibited integrity on and off the field."
BILL ELIAS -- Assistant Head Coach, Linebackers Coach & Recruiting Coordinator
Bill Elias joins Miami University following three years as director of athletics at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania and eight years as Gannon's head football coach. He attended Miami as a freshman following his graduation from Bedford High School in Massachusetts. Elias is excited about his opportunity to return to Oxford to serve as assistant head coach, linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator.
"I'm glad to be back at Miami," said Elias. "I spent my freshman year here and have always been very fond of the institution, so it's exciting to come back. As I've worked with Carl Reese through the years, linebackers was probably my specialty. As the head coach at Gannon, I oversaw the entire defense, so I'm willing to work anywhere on the field. My experience as an athletic director gives me another viewpoint and in building relationships within the administration. I've dealt with presidents and provosts, admissions and financial aid, and I understand the big picture." (CONTINUED BELOW)
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Elias and Haywood worked together as coaches at LSU from 1995 through 1997, where Elias served in several capacities.
A graduate of the University of Massachusetts in 1977, he became assistant defensive secondary coach for the varsity squad and was defensive coordinator for the junior varsity team.
From 1978-80, Elias coached offensive backs at the University of Delaware and also was offensive coordinator for the Blue Hens' freshman team.
He coached at Eastern Michigan University from 1981-86, serving as a graduate assistant for two seasons before taking over as outside linebacker coach.
Elias moved on to Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kansas for one season, becoming the school's offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.
He left the coaching profession for three years, working in private business, but re-entered coaching from 1991-94 at Vanderbilt. In Nashville, he coached outside linebackers and defensive ends, and also was Vanderbilt's recruiting coordinator.
Elias then joined LSU's staff prior to the 1994 season, coaching tight ends his first two years. For his final two seasons with the Tigers, he served as recruiting coordinator and helped LSU garner Top 10 recuiting classes. His time in Baton Rouge included three consecutive bowl appearances. Elias either coached or recruited 20 players who performed in the NFL.
Elias was named head football coach at Gannon University in 1998, developing and implementing the school's plan to move from a merit/need-based non-scholarship program to Division II status. Gannon's best team was the 2003 squad that compiled a school-best 9-1 mark, achieved fifth place in the Lambert Cup rankings, and placed 10th the the Division II regional rankings. That year, Elias was selected the Independent Football Alliance's Coach of the Year. Gannon moved into the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) in 2004 under Elias's orchestration. He was appointed as Gannon's athletic director in March of 2006 after coaching the Golden Knights to a 31-51 record through eight seasons. During his two-year tenure as AD, Elias was a member of the NCAA Division II football committee and in 2008 helped move Gannon to membership in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. As athletic director, his teams won three GLIAC championships. Gannon's nearly 350 student-athletes produced a combined 3.22 grade-point average last spring.
Elias's family includes his wife, Kathy, and their sons, Willie (29) and Darren (22).
ANTOINE SMITH -- Defensive Line Coach
Coaching Miami University's defensive lineman is Antoine Smith, a seven-year coaching veteran and a former collegiate star at the University of Maine.
"It's a great opportunity to work under Coach Haywood and an experienced coordinator like Coach Bull (Reese)," said Smith. We want to build a unit that plays together and understands the whole concept of our defense. Personally, I believe that the game begins up front and that the defensive line really makes or breaks the success of a team on that side of the ball."
Defensive Line Coach Antoine Smith instilled a no nonsense approach during his three seasons with the Youngstown State football program. Smith showed a passion for his players' development, both on and off the field, as the unit had six All-Missouri Valley Football Conference selections in his three seasons. Perhaps his best player was third-team All-American Mychal Savage.
Smith came to Youngstown State after spending two successful seasons coaching the defensive line at Lafayette. Smith made a tremendous impact for the Leopards, as the school reached the playoffs and shared two Patriot League titles during his brief time with the program and Coach Frank Tavani.
In 2005, the Leopards' defense placed in the Top 30 nationally in four categories. Lafayette ranked ninth in I-AA in scoring defense (17.0 points per game), 11th in total defense (296.9 yards per game), 19th in pass defense (166.9 yards per game) and 28th in rush defense (130.0 yards per game). The Leopards, who finished 8-4 overall and 5-1 in the conference, shared the crown with Colgate and led the league in scoring and total defense. Helping lead the way for Smith were defensive ends Marvin Snipes and Andrew Brown. Snipes was a first-team All-Patriot League selection while Brown was drafted by the Edmonton Eskimos in the 2006 CFL Draft. Lafayette advanced to the playoffs as an at-large selection losing to eventual National Champion Appalachian State in the first round.
In Smith's first year with the Leopards in 2004, they made their first Division I-AA playoff appearance in school history and won their first conference crown in 10 years. En route to finishing 8-4 and sharing the league title with Lehigh at 5-1, the Leopards allowed 19.1 points per game ranking 18th nationally in that category.
Before moving on to Lafayette, Smith spent the 2003 season as the defensive line coach at Maine for Coach Jack Cosgrove. The Black Bears finished with a 7-5 mark while Smith's entire front-line unit received All-Atlantic 10 accolades.
Smith spent the 2002 season as the defensive line coach and strength and conditioning coordinator at Minot State in North Dakota. He helped guide Minot State to the 2002 Dakota Athletic Conference championship, a 9-2 record and a berth in the NAIA playoffs, the Beavers' first since 1994.
A native of Syracuse, New York, Smith spent one season as the defensive coordinator at Fowler High School in his hometown upon graduating from Maine. While in Syracuse, he was a secondary education instructor for the City School District.
Smith earned his bachelor's degree in physical education and kinesiology in 2001 from Maine and his Master's degree from Minot State in 2004. During his undergraduate academic career he worked as a teaching assistant. He also served as the defensive coordinator at Orono High School while still completing undergraduate work in 2000.
Smith was a three-year starter at defensive tackle for Maine and a four-year letterwinner from 1996-99.
In high school, he was a three-time football captain at Fowler. Smith was also a standout wrestler, winning three state championships in both freestyle and Greco Roman. Prior to enrolling at Maine, he attended Maine Central Institute prep school.
Smith is single.
On Sunday, more additions to the Miami coaching staff will be announced.
--www.MURedHawks.com--
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