CHAMPAIGN – Pull back the curtain to find out who is running the show.

At the University of Arizona, there were no question. Rich Rodriguez, the inventor of the zone-read spread offense, called the shots. He was the wizard pushing the buttons, creating an exhilarating offense that made its way from the mountains of West Virginia through the blueblood stop at Michigan to the Arizona desert.

There have been plenty of success stories at quarterback, led by West Virginia’s Pat White, Michigan’s Denard Robinson and Arizona’s Khalil Tate, the breakout player of the year last season in the Pac-12 Conference.

Yet Rod Smith might have been a little more than the guy holding the clipboard. While Rodriguez called the shots, Tate built a close relationship with Smith, who evidently earned a high level or trust for his ability to coach them up.

Tate dropped a few hints in spring practice after Smith was hired by Illinois as offensive coordinator. It sounded like he was already missing the guy who help guide him last fall.

“There was a moment in spring practice,’’ said Michael Lev, who covers Arizona football for Arizona Daily Star in Tucson. “Tate made an allusion to Rod Smith not being able to do everything he wanted when he was here. That was kind of a peek behind the curtain to what the power structure was. Khalil sounded like he wanted Rod to have greater control or input. That might have been beneficial.

“I’ve never confirmed this but there was always a lot of chatter that Rod wanted to play Khalil Tate earlier than he began playing. (Rodriguez) just wasn’t ready to commit to a younger guy.’’

If you don’t have the Pac-12 network on the cable or dish and didn’t get a chance to catch some late-night football, Tate was the breakout performer out west. Taking over the position a month into the season, Tate blew up as a sophomore. Mr. October attracted attention from Heisman voters to Lebron James by piling up 840 yards rushing and 743 yards passing with 14 touchdowns by ground or air. He was named the league’s offensive player of the week four consecutive times while leading the Wildcats to four straight wins and a top 25 ranking.

So as Rod Smith takes over the Illini offense, expect to see the same up-tempo spread offense built around spreading the defense from sideline to sideline to allow space to run the ball, create numbers mismatches in space and overhaul an offense that was anemic under Garrick McGee. The offense spreads the defense and forces decisions to be made in coverage. It’s the quarterback’s job to determine if the play should adjust at the line of scrimmage.

“We are trying to get athletes in space and get them in one-on-one battles,’’ Smith said. “That hardest thing to do in football is to tackle in the open field.’’

Perhaps this is a hint toward what to expect this fall. What exactly that means is still a bit of a mystery, but Rodriguez wasn’t afraid to run the quarterback. The Illini have several capable running quarterbacks on the roster. The question is which one can digest an offense with so many reads and decisions to make at the line of scrimmage. In this offense, there are perhaps five options from each play.

All these options can confuse a young quarterback.

With Anu Solomon under center, the Wildcats once threw 72 times in a game earlier in the decade. Brandon Hawkins, his predecessor, would often run more than 20 times a game. The Wildcats weren’t afraid to go old-school, essentially running quarterback sweeps. It’s a case of using what you’ve got.

“You can see the two extremes,’’ Lev said.

Then came Tate, wo finished with 1,591 yards passing and 1,411 yards rushing last season with 26 touchdowns overall.

OK, so RichRod doesn’t make the trip to Champaign, but Rod Smith played under him at Division II Glenville State and coached under him – while also spending time with Kevin Wilson at Indiana and Jim Leavitt at South Florida. He’s apparently ready for a move upward.

Taking a look at Arizona’s stats last season, the Wildcats ranked third nationally in rushing (309 yards a game), 12th in total offense (489 yards a game) and fifth in scoring (41 points a game). The Wildcats used the read option and multiple sets to roll up the rushing yards. With a young set of quarterbacks, the Illini might rely more on feet than the quarterback’s arm. Yet the passing game’s responsibility is keeping things honest.

“They were a heavy running team, especially the last couple of years,’’ Lev said. “I don’t know if that was a matter of they didn’t feel like the quarterbacks could execute a passing game. The offense evolved (toward the run) with the types of quarterbacks they had.’’

The new hire is capable of developing an offense and coaching up the quarterbacks.

“I thought he brought a lot to the table,’’ Lev said. “He was very honest in his assessments about the quarterbacks. Even though he was the good cop to Rodriguez’s bad cop, he didn’t sugar coat things. He strikes me as very knowledgeable and well-spoken in his down home, West Virginia way. He’s smart. He’s got the right level of experience. I think he has all the tools to succeed. Whether it happens, there are a lot of factors that go into that.’’

Lev saw hints Smith was ready to go out on his own, knowing that RichRod would never take his hands off the steering wheel of the offense he developed. That’s before Rodriguez was cut loose following accusations of sexual harassment.

“There were rumblings before all this happened that he was looking for some type of job what would be considered a quote-unquote promotion, where he wouldn’t be just an offensive coordinator in title but would be the one calling the shots,’’ Lev said. “I never talked to him about it specifically, but I think there was something to it. Most coaches have big egos and big ambitions. They want to rise in the profession as much as they possibly can. As long as he was working with Rich Rodriguez, and they went way back, he was never going to be the one calling the plays.’’

He’s calling the shots, but Rod Smith must find a quarterback, develop a young line that still lacks depth, find some playmakers on the edge. But don’t be surprised if the Illini like a running quarterback who tries to keep them honest with his arm.