By Sam Federman
The first domino out on the west side of the country in this year's coaching carousel has fallen. Utah has parted ways with Craig Smith in the home stretch of his fourth season, per Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68.
In Goodman's tweet breaking the news, he shared that he believed the move comes with "strange timing" as the Utes are 15-12 and 7-9 in a competitive Big 12.
Utah lost to UCF in Orlando on Sunday, but had just crept back up the Big 12 standings with back-to-back home wins over Kansas and Kansas State last week. Outside of his first season, Smith had never had a losing season at Utah, and in his first season in the Big 12, was carrying a steady ship.
Smith went 65-62 without an NCAA Tournament berth during his four year tenure in Salt Lake City, which followed a three year stretch at rival Utah State where he went 74-24. Before that, he led the South Dakota program for four years, and went 79-55.
Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of North Dakota, Smith has won 290 games as a college head coach, which goes back to three years at NAIA Mayville State back in the mid-2000's.
Utah is an interesting job in a unique part of the Big 12.