Yeah that is the connection. Smith's connection is even more amazing. One of Smith's coaces at Arkansas State was Mike Conway. Conway was the head coach of Olivet Nazarine College on the outskirts of Chicago when they came to Savannah to play for the NAIA national championship, I think in our 2nd or 3rd year of hosting. Conway, fueled by his success at the NAIA level then moved up to D-1 Ark St. and stayed there 3 years before landing the head coaching job at a small college in Kansas. Conway asked Smith to join him at the college level (Smith was coaching at Ripley at the time), and Smith joined him there. Conway was then offered the Asst Head Coach job at California, Pennsylvania, and took Smith with him. Long roundabout way for such a Hardin County connection to that University, but fact is sometimes stranger than fiction.