Voting for a coach: Round of 16 - Smith vs. Rocco

A head coach that nobody knows against a coordinator that a lot of people talk about around here.  Hmmm, head vs. heart?

Knockout Round 5

Robb Smith, Arkansas, Defensive Coordinator

DEEE-fense.  Everybody loved Robb Smith's defenses.  Aggressive,  swarming, unpredictable.  Ahhh, the good old days.

The 40-year old Smith has been at Arkansas for two seasons. In that time he has made significant progress in upgrading the defense of the Hogs.  Most readers know Smith from his four years On the Banks where he served as both special teams coach and, in 2012, defensive coordinator.

For more on Smith, check here.

Danny Rocco, Richmond, Head Coach

Rocco is in his fourth year at Richmond.  Before that, he spent six years as the head coach at Liberty, where he went 47-20 and won four Big South championships.  At Richmond, he is 30-11, and the Spiders are currently ranked No. 9 in FCS.  So far, so good.

He's originally from Pennsylvania, and his father coached under Paterno at Penn State, which is where Rocco first played.  He transferred to Wake-Forest where he again played and was a team captain.

He has coached at a number of major college programs including Virginia and Boston College, where he worked under Tom Coughlin.  The biggest positive factor on Rocco's resume is that he turned around both the Liberty and Richmond programs.  Liberty was 1-10 the year before he got there; he then had a string of six consecutive winning seasons.  Richmond was 3-8 before Rocco showed up.  In his first year, the team was co-champions of the CAA.

But would he want another [semi] rebuild job at the age of 55?

For more on Rocco, check here.