Northeast Mississippi Community College president Dr. Johnny Allen hired Ricky Smither as assistant football coach on Wednesday, February 14, 2007. Coach Smither enjoyed success as the Tigers' offensive line coach in his first season at NEMCC. Smither's first o-line group at Northeast sported two four-year college signees: Reggie Wade (Jacksonville State) and Greg Magnifico (Belhaven).

“His resume speaks for itself in terms of his coaching experience, but more importantly he’s a fine person with a great family," said Allen. "He’s passionate about working with student-athletes, and he will fit in well with the Northeast family and community.”

Smither graduated from Delta State University with a B.S. degree in Education in 1993, and a Master’s in Education from DSU in 1996. Having coached 10 years at the High School, Community College, and Division-One levels, Smither came to Northeast from Foley High School in Alabama.

Smither began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Delta State University in 1995, later accepting a coaching position at Cleveland (Miss.) High School in 1997. He made the move to community college coaching in 1998, joining the staff at Coahoma Community College. From 1999-2006, Smither enjoyed stints at East Side High School (Miss.), H.L. Bourgeois High School (Louisiana), while also working at the Division-I level as an assistant coach at Mississippi Valley State University (2002-04).

“I’ve coached in college before,” Smither explained, “and once you get a taste of it you always want to be a part of it, from the campus life, to recruiting. Early in my career I learned a lot about Northeast and the city of Booneville from coaching against them. I also recruited Northeast heavily while I was at Mississippi Valley (State University). I told myself then if I ever got the opportunity to work at this college I would be crazy not to go. I'm extremely thankful for this opportunity.”

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