"If we talk about just winning the conference, that's all you'll do," Smith, 39, continued. "But if you talk about winning a national championship, then that's what your focus is. That's what we're doing, that's what we're looking forward to ... and I'm thankful and blessed to have this opportunity.

"Let's take the Blue Tigers to a national championship, that's the goal."

We'll see, but Smith may have crossed the line from optimistic to unrealistic. The Blue Tigers, after all, haven't even had a winning season since 1972 --- that will be a span of 45 years heading into next season --- and are just 11-67 this decade, including 1-10 this season.

"What's happened in the past doesn't matter to me, where I'm going, that's the important part," Smith said. "If you dwell on what you did in the past, then you'll stay in the past. But if you focus on your future, then your future is bright. It's all about where we're going from this day forward; we're trying to build that winning tradition here.

"One thing we're committed to is excellence at everything that we do, in the classroom and outside the classroom, and that means winning. Winning is not just about what they do on the field. It's about what how the young man carries himself when he walks into a restaurant, it's about how people perceive them on campus.

"We know we've had some challenging, lean years the past few years, but that's going to turn around now."

Close to 80 applicants showed interest in the job. After the search was narrowed to the top five, who went through phone interviews, the final two made on-campus visits. While the other coach wasn't mentioned, it matters little at this point --- the winner is Smith.

"We're excited, we know our students are excited and our student-athletes are excited," Lincoln President Dr. Kevin Rome said. "You're going to see some exciting football at Lincoln University, based on the new coach that was introduced today."

Smith has 18 years of coaching experience at the high school, college and professional levels, most recently as offensive coordinator the last four years at Division II Albany State in Georgia. Among his brief stints in the NFL was a spot on Romeo Crennel's staff with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2012.

Smith is a native of Chicago, where he "went through trials and tribulations," he said, "and I was able to get out of those trials and tribulations and achieve different things."

"Attacking" within the state's borders is the recruiting priority, including Central Missouri.

"We're going to blitz Missouri," Smith said. "You fill up the stands with your student body and the community, so the more players you have from the community and the state of Missouri, it's going to help revenue within the school. That's important."

And recruiting all starts up front.

"When you build a team," Smith said, "your offensive line has to be the best of the best, your defensive line has to be the best of the best. You watch some of these college teams and you watch some of these NFL teams and look at the ones who are winning --- they're not winning because they're scoring all these points, they're winning because they're dominating up front."

Smith certainly has a tall mountain to climb to transform the Blue Tigers from doormats to dominant and into the national championship conversation.

On this day, his resolve was strong.

"The first thing you have to do is teach them (the players) what success is," Smith said. "It's all about how hard you work, nobody just gets a job by sitting down. When you put the work in, you'll get the results you want.

"Then, they have to learn how to handle that success, how to live within the moment and once the moment is over, move on to the next one. That's what we have to do, day to day.

"The one thing that makes this program special is that you can see the attitude with the president, the AD, the athletic administration and the student body. That is the tradition that we're going to start today, we're going to win, And we're not going to just win on the football field, we're going to graduate students, too. That's the most important thing.

"I believe this administration and this community wants a winner, and it's my job to give them a winner."

Steve Smith certainly seems like a likable guy, he's enthusiastic, excited and optimistic. Here's hoping he gets one more thing along the way.

A little bit of luck.

Loeffler's Link

Mike Jones didn't win
enough games at LU,
but he's a winner
where it counts most

For questions, comments or story ideas, contact Tom at loefflerslink@hotmail.com.

Steven Smith chats with the media after being named head football coach of the Blue Tigers on Tuesday morning at Lincoln.