Utah fires Craig Smith: Fourth-year coach failed to reach NCAA Tournament as program fell behind rival BYU

Utah fired men's basketball coach Craig Smith on Monday with four games left in the team's regular season.

The decision comes at an unexpected juncture. The Utes are far from the NCAA Tournament picture but did beat Kansas and Kansas State in back-to-back home games last week before falling 76-72 at UCF on Saturday. Utah is 15-12 and plays its next game Wednesday at Arizona. The Utes are 7-9 in Big 12 play, sitting 11th in the 16-team conference.

Assistant Josh Eilert will serve as the team's interim coach for the remainder of the season, per the school's official release. Smith leaves the Utes with a 65-62 mark in Salt Lake City. He failed to bring Utah to the NCAA Tournament during his team there.

"I want to thank Craig for his work and commitment since he arrived in Salt Lake City. He has led us to special moments and memorable victories, and Craig has poured his heart into building our current team," athletic director Mark Harlan said in a statement. "However, we have greater aspirations for our men's basketball program, both within the Big 12 Conference and nationally, and our expectation is to regularly compete in the NCAA Tournament. After evaluating our program under Craig's leadership, I believe a change is needed to get us to where we want to go. The time is now to begin that process, and we will surround Coach Eilert, the staff and our student-athletes with support as they continue with their season."

Smith was a logical and well-credentialed candidate upon his hiring in 2021. He went 153-79 in seven seasons prior while coaching South Dakota State and Utah State, the latter of which he took to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 and 2021. (USU was also an NCAA Tournament-level team in 2020, if not for the cancellation of the event.)

The biggest challenge for Smith was Utah's lack of NIL support. Sources said the program's resources rank near the bottom of the Big 12.

This situation became all the more pressing on the local level. BYU is Utah's fierce rival, and the Cougars have built up one of the largest war chests in men's basketball for player compensation, most notably landing No. 1 prospect AJ Dybantsa for next season. Plus, BYU has been on an upswing as of late, playing its way into the NCAA Tournament picture in February.

Utah is the fifth power-conference job vacancy in this year's cycle, joining Florida State, Indiana, Miami and Virginia.