Michigan State football: 247Sports calls Jonathan Smith hire “elite”

Brad Crawford of 247Sports called Jonathan Smith an “elite” hire by Michigan State football — he’s not wrong.

Almost all of Spartan Nation was excited when Jonathan Smith was hired by Michigan State football. And why shouldn’t we be? Smith took a struggling program in Oregon State and brought it to national relevance, leading the Beavers to some of their best seasons in recent history. Our hope as a fanbase is that he can do the same for Michigan State.

It, however, means a lot more when someone outside of the program agrees that this is an excellent hire.

One 247Sports writer in particular is extremely high on Michigan State’s hire of Smith.

247Sports grade on the Jonathan Smith hire

National 247Sports writer Brad Crawford dissected each college football hire so far this offseason, categorizing them into four tiers. When talking about Michigan State hiring Smith, Crawford placed the Spartans’ hire in the highest tier possible: elite.

Crawford didn’t just hand this grade out to every program. Michigan State is one of just five programs to be placed in the elite tier. Here is what Crawford had to share about MSU hiring Smith.

“He fits what Michigan State was looking for and most importantly, has a proven ability in the talent development department. Smith’s offensive scheme is multiple and the Spartans needed this hire to be someone who returned to a back-to-basics approach on the other side of the football after recent struggles.”

As I mentioned before, hearing a completely neutral third party talk this highly of Smith makes me that much more excited. It’s easy for fans to fall in love with any hire your favorite team makes, but for someone who has no ties to MSU to say this really speaks volumes.

I was already excited for the Smith era to begin, but this just took it to another level.