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Head football coach John L. Smith resigns; Rifilato takes the reins
John L. Smith has resigned as head football coach from Fort Lewis College, announced today by Director of Athletics Gary Hunter. Defensive coordinator Ed Rifilato has been promoted to head coach. Smith has accepted the head coaching position at Kentucky State University (NCAA Division II) in Frankfort, Kentucky.
"We appreciate John L.'s hard work in the Skyhawks football program the past two years," said Hunter. "He took an 0-10 team from 2012 and turned it into a winning program. At the same time, we are happy that he and his wife Di will be returning home to the Louisville area and will be near their three children and grandchildren. We have full confidence that Coach Rifilato will continue to grow the program successfully."
In three years at the helm, Smith and the Skyhawks went 14-19 overall (.424) and 11-16 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (.407). The Skyhawks notched seven wins this past season, including six in conference games (7-4, 6-3 RMAC). The last time the Skyhawks notched seven wins in a season was 2006 when Rifilato was the head coach. All four losses this season came at the hands of nationally ranked teams.
When Smith was hired at Fort Lewis College in the spring of 2013, he was reunited with Hunter, President Dene Thomas and Rifilato. Hunter was the director of athletics who hired Smith for his first head coaching job at Idaho in 1989, while Thomas served as associate dean at Idaho during his tenure. Rifilato played for Smith at Idaho and served as his director of football operations at Louisville.
Rifilato, who has spent the last three years as Smith's defensive coordinator, is no stranger to Skyhawks football. He returned to the Skyhawks football program during the 2012 season after previously serving as head coach at both Fort Lewis College and New Mexico Highlands.
"I am very honored to take over as the head football coach of Fort Lewis College," said Rifilato. "I would like to thank Athletic Director Gary Hunter and President Dene Thomas for the opportunity to lead the Skyhawk football program. Fort Lewis College and the Durango/Bayfield community have been wonderful to myself and my family. I look forward to serving Fort Lewis College and our community."
Rifilato was Defensive Coordinator at his alma mater, University of Idaho, in 2000 and 2001, and also coached on John L Smith's staff at Louisville. He won the Colorado National Football Foundation Coach of the Year honors in 2005 and 2006 while at Fort Lewis College, and RMAC Coach of the Year honors while at New Mexico Highlands in 1999.
While serving as head coach and defensive coordinator for the Skyhawks from 2004-09, Rifilato guided FLC to the postseason for the first time in FLC's forty-year college history (which began in 1963), winning the Dixie Rotary Bowl by defeating host Dixie State 24-14. That capped a season that saw the Skyhawks go 7-4 overall, matching FLC's most wins in a single season. The Skyhawks also narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time in school history. FLC was 6-2 in RMAC games that year, losing the league title to Chadron State, which featured current NFL player Danny Woodhead. That same season, FLC beat every Colorado Division II program for just the second time in school history. Rifilato's 2005 Skyhawk squad went 6-4 overall and 6-2 in league games. The '05 season marked FLC's first winning season in 20 years.
Prior to arriving at Fort Lewis in 2003, Rifilato spent one year coaching with John L Smith at University of Louisville after serving as defensive coordinator at the University of Idaho in 2000 and 2001. Previously Rifilato was Head Coach at New Mexico Highlands, leading the Cowboys to the RMAC championship and a 7-4 record in 1999. He had served as NMHU's defensive coordinator from 1996-98. Before Highlands, Rifilato was defensive coordinator at Chaffey Junior College in 1994-95. He spent the 1992-93 seasons as linebackers coach at San Bernardino Valley Junior College.
Born in Islip, N.Y., Rifilato was raised in Bells Gardens, Calif. He attended the University of Idaho, Long Beach City College, and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in business management from California Coast University in 1998. He played college football at Idaho, where he was his team's Defensive Player of the Year in 1983-84 and Long Beach Community College, where he was a preseason All-American.
Rifilato's wife, Kelley, is the Skyhawks head volleyball coach. They have two daughters, Gabriella and Katherine.
Rifilato will officially take over as head coach beginning Jan. 1, 2016.