Michigan State Spartans: Jonathan Smith
Why the job was open: The Mel Tucker era at Michigan State was a strange one. It got off to a slow start in 2020 but thanks to his portal usage they had a great 2021 season that included beating Michigan and winning the Peach Bowl. It seemed like the Tucker era was ready to take off, but it soon became apparent the foundation wasn’t set. His brash approach included focusing on the portal, not as much on high school recruiting to churn out early results and he managed relationships differently. Eventually things dropped off starting in 2022 but came to an end in 2023 following an alleged incident.
Coach Profile: Before Jonathan Smith was a coach, he had a decorated college career as a QB at Oregon State. This was highlighted by an incredible season in 2000 with the trio of Smith, Chad Johnson and TJ Houshmandzadeh where they went 10-1 in the regular season and beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl 41-9. That was the best season in Oregon State history. He immediately went into coaching after college and soon was the QB coach with Idaho, then the OC at Montana. He then worked under Chris Petersen for a while, including being his OC at Washington from 2014-2017. In 2018 Smith was hired back to his alma matter as the head coach. It took some time to build, they didn’t make a bowl until 2021 but then things took off in 2022 with a 10-3 season that ended with a dominating bowl win over Florida. Uncertainty began to hit as it became apparent that 2023 would be the last season for the Pac-12 under it’s current structure and Oregon State was on the outside. They were America’s team entering the year and played pretty well going 8-4. But he eventually looked elsewhere to get away from the uncertainty that faced the program, leaving all his gear at a local Goodwill.
Why he will succeed: Jonathan Smith is a very good coach, he’s shown that at every stop so far. It’s hard to build and sustain success at Oregon State but that’s exactly what he did there. Now he’s at Michigan State with a lot more resources at his disposal. Michigan State has a College Football playoff appearance and multiple NY6 bowls in recent history which shows they can make it to the big stage.
What obstacles are in the way of success: How will recruiting go? Before this job the furthest east Smith ever coached was at Montana. This job is more difficult now because Michigan now has things rolling, and despite that Michigan State fans will want to see wins in that rivalry. The Big Ten is also more crowded with the misfit West Coast schools added.
Grade: A- – Overall I like this hire. Michigan State is bringing in a guy with a great track record of success. I slightly docked the grade because of the out of region fit but it’s something Smith can definitely overcome.
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