Rookie coach Keishon Smith is on a mission to restore Devonshire Colts to their former glory after confirming he will take charge for the coming campaign.

Smith, 34, is under no illusions of the onerous task ahead considering Colts failed to win a single league match last term and accepts there is a "mountain to climb" before they reclaim their powerhouse status.

The former Colts player took over as caretaker coach mid-season after long-serving boss Ray Jones was banned for two-years by Bermuda Football Association (BFA) for a verbal spat with referee Ronue Cann.

Colts were already marooned at the bottom of the league table and Smith was unable to reverse their flagging fortunes as their dire run of form persisted.

They would have been sent down to the second tier by a country mile had the BFA not eliminated automatic relegation as part of their restructuring of the domestic league system.

Instead Colts were forced to fight for their top-flight survival with Dame Fortune smiling sweetly upon them as they sneaked past St.David's in a nail-biting penalty shootout.

But Smith believes that humbling experience will stand his young team in good stead as they endeavour to regain their confidence and restore their battered pride.

"We had to show a lot of character to come through those play-off games," said Smith, who coaches Knights in the Island Soccer league (ISL). "I don't know of too many teams who would have been able to go winless throughout an entire season and still have enough character to win the play-offs."

According to Smith, his predecessor Jones will continue to play an active role in drawing up Colts' road map to recovery this season, although it remains unclear as what his exact influence will be.