Larry Smith, who grew up just down the road but made his reputation out West, died at 68.
Smith coached USC to Rose Bowl appearances in his first three seasons, and also coached at Arizona, Tulane and Missouri. But he grew up in Van Wert, an Ohio boy whose passion for football came honest and early.
"Any person who has ever grown up here, from the time they're old enough to know what's going on, knows Friday night in Ohio means high school football," Smith told Tom Timmermann of the Los Angeles Daily News back in 1990, when Smith's USC Trojans were getting ready to go to Columbus to play Ohio State. "When I was 6, 7 years old, I remember running around outside the fence at games. And then I remember sitting on a blanket in the bleachers watching a game.
"Growing up in that situation, you could go into any town or small city and know whether or not the local team was at home. If they were on the road, it was like a ghost town."
Sounds like high school hoops in Indiana. Well, once upon a time, anyway.
-- Ben Smith
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