WVU's newest assistant headed back to the Jets

MORGANTOWN - A day after adding 26 players to the program onNational Signing Day, West Virginia football added one name and lostanother Thursday.

Mike Smith, hired last month for an unspecified position on thedefensive staff, decided to return to the New York Jets. EricKinsey, a defensive end/linebacker from Miami, signed with theMountaineers to give the team 27 recruits and 83 scholarshipplayers, two shy of the NCAA limit, for the start of preseason camp.

Smith, 30, spent the previous two years as an intern with theJets and was hired as the outside linebackers coach before takingthe job with WVU. He started for four years at Texas Tech whenHolgorsen was there as an assistant.

Smith was a seventh-round draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens andplayed three seasons before starting in coaching as a defensivegraduate assistant at the University of Hawaii in 2009.

He signed a one-year contract for $250,000 with the Mountaineerslast month, but was never given a clear title or responsibility.

Holgorsen now needs two coaches to complete his staff followingdefensive coordinator Jeff Casteel's move to Arizona and thedecisions by defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich and cornerbackscoach David Lockwood to follow.

Holgorsen hired Oklahoma State assistant Joe DeForest to be atleast the co-coordinator last month. DeForest said Wednesday heexpects to know his title and responsibility soon.

The 6 foot, 3 inch, 225-pound Kinsey played at Miami'sNorthwestern High and was teammates with WVU defensive linemanImarjaye Albury, a freshman who is already enrolled. Kinsey made 87tackles, 24 tackles for a loss and 10 sacks and forced five fumblesand recovered three as a senior.

The Miami Herald listed him as the No. 1 defensive lineman inMiami-Dade County, though Kinsey will likely be an outsidelinebacker with the Mountaineers. He had scholarship offers fromLouisville, Nebraska, Ole Miss, USF and Vanderbilt.