Kolby Smith Named Running Backs Coach

Former NFL running back Kolby Smith has been named the Kentucky running backs coach, head coach Will Stein announced Friday. His hiring is contingent on the satisfaction of the University’s pre-employment screenings and other due diligence.

“I’m fired up to have Kolby Smith on our staff,” Stein said. “He is an outstanding teacher and recruiter with a proven track record of developing productive running backs. Kolby brings great energy, attention to detail, and a player-first approach, and he understands what it takes to build a physical, versatile run game.”

Smith comes to the Bluegrass after two seasons as the running backs coach at Arkansas.

In 2025, under Smith’s tutelage, senior running back Mike Washington Jr. earned All-SEC Second Team honors after rushing 167 times for 1,070 yards and eight touchdowns. He also caught 28 passes for 226 receiving yards and a score. He ranked fourth in the league in rushing yards as one of only four players in the league with over 1,000 yards, joining Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy, Ole Miss’ Kewan Lacy and Florida’s Jadan Baugh. He also ranked second in the SEC, averaging 6.41 yards per carry. Washington was the first Arkansas running back to rush for 1,000 yards since 2022.

The Razorbacks produced one of the best offenses in the nation and in school history in Smith’s first season in 2024. The Hogs ranked 10th nationally in total offense with 459.5 yards per game – fourth-best in a single season in school history. The team came up one rushing touchdown shy of matching the school record for rushing touchdowns with 34 scores, led by running back Ja’Quinden Jackson’s 15 TDs. Jackson’s 15 scores on the ground were the most by an Arkansas running back since Alex Collins set the school record with 20 in 2015. Jackson also led the team in rushing with 790 yards, including three consecutive 100-yard games to start the season, despite playing only 10 games in his lone season at Arkansas on his way to earning All-SEC second-team honors from the Associated Press. The Hogs’ 184.8 rushing yards per game ranked third in the SEC and was helped by the team rushing for over 200 yards in six games, with the squad’s season-best 359 yards coming in the win at Mississippi State. In the win vs. the Bulldogs, true freshman Braylen Russell burst onto the scene with 175 yards on 16 carries in his first career start. Smith also developed transfer running back Rodney Hill, who ran for a season-high 81 yards on eight carries in the win over Texas Tech in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to work with Will again,” Smith said. “We worked together at Louisville, and he has one of the most creative minds I’ve ever been around. He’s just an offensive ball coach who loves to score points, and so do I. I’m grateful for the chance to be part of what he’s building at Kentucky and can’t wait to get to work.”

Prior to Arkansas, Smith served four seasons (2020-23) on the staff of the Miami Dolphins, working with the team’s running backs, first as a quality control coach (2020-21) before being promoted to an offensive assistant role prior to the 2022 season.

In 2023, Smith helped the Dolphins’ offense to record heights, setting a franchise record with 6,899 total yards while ranking second in the league in both points per game (29.2) and passing yards per game (276.4) and sixth in rushing yards per game (135.8). Running back Raheem Mostert topped 1,000 yards for the first time in his career and led all NFL running backs with 18 rushing touchdowns. In 2022, Smith worked with an offense that finished in the top 10 (sixth, 364.5 yards per game) for the first time since 1995. Miami averaged 6.1 yards per play, which ranked second in the NFL.  Miami went 11-6 that season, losing to eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City in the playoffs.

Before his jump to the professional ranks, Smith spent seven seasons as a college assistant at Rutgers (2019), Louisville (2014-18) and Western Kentucky (2013).

In one season at Rutgers, Smith helped sophomore running back Isiah Pacheco improve in nearly every category. Pacheco set career-highs in carries (169), rushing yards (729) and rushing touchdowns (7), which led the Knights and became a Super Bowl-winning premier back for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Following a three-year career in the NFL as a running back, Smith began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Razorbacks in 2012 before joining Bobby Petrino’s staff at Western Kentucky as the Hilltoppers’ running backs coach in 2013. He followed Petrino to Louisville the following year, where he coached the Cardinals’ running backs for five seasons. Smith’s relationship with Petrino dates to Smith’s college days as a running back at Louisville for Petrino (2003-06) during Petrino’s first stint leading the Cardinals.

At Louisville, he helped the Cardinals to four bowls, while helping set school records in team rushing yards in back-to-back years in 2017 (3,186) and 2016 (3,148). In 2017, the Cardinals ranked 15th nationally in rushing (245.1 ypg) and totaled over 250 rushing yards in seven games. Smith’s three running backs combined to rush for 1,225 yards and 14 touchdowns. The 2016 campaign saw the Cardinals total 37 scores on the ground, highlighted by the 903 yards and six touchdowns by Brandon Radcliff, who was second on the team with four 100-yard games.

During the 2015 campaign, Smith helped the Cardinals post their best rushing games in the second part of the season, running for over 200 yards in four of the final five games. That included a season-best 314 yards in a 38-24 victory over Kentucky. For the year, the Cardinals averaged 171.0 yards on the ground and totaled 23 touchdowns.

With a stable of running backs in 2014, Smith’s unit ran for 28 touchdowns and averaged 142.7 yards per game in leading the Cardinals to a 9-4 record and a berth in the Belk Bowl. The team’s backs recorded six 100-yard rushing games, including Brandon Radcliff, who tallied a team-best three 100-yard rushing games.

In his lone season with the Hilltoppers, Smith tutored Antonio Andrews, the nation’s top all-purpose player, to a career season on the ground. Andrews reset the school rushing mark with 1,730 yards in 2013. WKU running backs combined for 30 of the team’s 31 rushing touchdowns, led by Andrews’ career-best 16. He also set a school record for the most 100-yard rushing games in a career (21), in a season (11) and consecutively (11). He generated 125 all-purpose yards in 25 consecutive games, a streak unmatched to within 10 games by any other player in the country. Smith’s running backs also accounted for 724 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air.

As a player at Louisville, Smith helped the Cardinals to a 12-1 record as the primary back in 2006. Sharing the backfield that year with Michael Bush, Smith stepped in after an injury to Bush to average more than five yards per carry, scoring seven touchdowns on a team that defeated Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl, the program’s first BCS victory.

For his career, Smith rushed for 1,863 yards and scored 18 rushing TDs while averaging nearly 6.0 yards per carry. He also caught 56 passes for 581 yards and two touchdowns.

He graduated from Louisville in May of 2007 with a degree in sports administration.

Smith was selected in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. He immediately made an impact in his rookie season, rushing for 407 yards on 112 carries. Smith played in all 16 games in 2007, scoring a pair of touchdowns and earning AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors after rushing for 150 yards on 31 carries against the Raiders. He finished his NFL career in 2010, spending brief periods with the Denver Broncos and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Smith and his wife, Ashley, have three sons, Kolby Jr., Karter and Klay.

 Kolby Smith’s Coaching Career

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