Michigan State football: Jonathan Smith has hired his TE coach

New Michigan State football coach Jonathan Smith has officially hired his tight ends coach from Oregon State.

On Sunday morning, Justin Thind of 247Sports has reported that former Oregon State tight ends coach Brian Wozniak will be joining the new Michigan State football staff with Jonathan Smith.

SOURCES: #OregonState TE coach Brian Wozniak is coming to #MichiganState.

Wozniak developed NFL 2nd round rookie Luke Musgrave, as well as current OSU TE Jake Velling (who had 8 TDs as a soph).

He is from Ohio & played at #Wisconsin.

Another big hire: https://t.co/nfvhnJ6xgX pic.twitter.com/IDhjfJ63Wc

— Justin Thind (@JustinThind) November 26, 2023

Less than 24 hours after Smith’s official hiring he has already made the move to bring two of his key offensive coaches to East Lansing along with him. It was announced on Saturday that proven offensive line coach Jim Michalczik was going to join the Spartans staff, which is a hire that Michigan State fans should be excited about. Of the names floated around early, he was a top target, as well as Oregon State defensive coordinator Trent Bray.

But the one I had my eye on was the Oregon State tight ends coach Brian Wozniak.

This secures a question mark that has surrounded the Michigan State football program since the Mel Tucker hiring. They have a proven tight ends coach. The previous regime seemed to get the talent, and they spoke about how the tight end position was the “MVP of their offense” but we never really saw that translate to results. Many fans are going to approach each hire of Smith with skepticism, and how could you not after the last coaching staff, but this time around, these coaches come with results in their resume. Less coachspeak and allure around these coaches and more results will be a refreshing look to the staff that will help build Smith’s program in East Lansing.

Result-based coaching

Wozniak has helped develop and recruit tight ends in solid volume at Oregon State, and most notably, Jake Ferguson, a 2023 second-round pick to Wisconsin. He also helped develop current Texan tight end and sixth-round pick Teagan Quitoriano. Current Oregon State tight end Jake Velling has had eight touchdown receptions this season in his sophomore campaign.

These are products that the Tucker regime fell short of with Connor Heyward the only tight end during the era finding his way into the NFL. With these proven results from Wozniak and Smith at Oregon State, the untapped and underutilized talent in the Spartan tight end room should see immediate results.

Untapped talent in East Lansing

With the likes of Maliq Carr, who is only a junior, as well as Brennan Parachek, a freshman who saw the field in eight games in 2023, there is a lot of potential in MSU’s tight end room.

We all know what Carr can do, which was seen in his game-winning touchdown catch against Indiana, and Parachek comes with high expectations. One thing I would like to see from Wozniak is less volume and more productivity. The Spartans brought in three transfer tight ends in 2023, and three recruits in 2022, from which we have seen little usage. With the potential addition of Jake Velling, there is real potential for the tight ends to be a focal point of the passing game with depth and talent among younger players.

A one-two punch of Carr and Velling? Its no secret Wozniak is a big part of what Smith wants to build.

Potential recruiting impact

Wozniak will also give the Spartans some much-needed Midwest ties. He is from Ohio and is a former Wisconsin tight end himself. Returning recruiting focus to Ohio, and the rest of the Midwest is something Smith and Co. are going to need to do to compete with Ohio State, Penn State, and the new teams from the Pac-12.

Things are moving quickly for Smith and his new staff. Bringing these coaches to East Lansing is a sign of more to come soon, as I expect him to move quickly through the next two days. For now, bringing these two coaches in, with proven results is something Spartan fans should be excited about.