New Michigan State football coaching staff is a breath of fresh air

The new Michigan State football coaching staff led by Jonathan Smith is a breath of fresh air with their tireless recruiting attitude.

Refreshing. That’s the one word I’d use to describe the first-year Michigan State football coaching staff led by Jonathan Smith.

For the past few years, we were promised top recruiting classes and Big Ten title contention and while we had the 2021 season which will always be memorable because of Kenneth Walker III, it was all broken promises and flash with no substance.

The Mel Tucker era fizzled out in a disastrously fitting way after all the pictures with goats and Lambos and rides in the Slingshot. His cigar pictures kept fans afloat every offseason only to be let down when the season began. The “deep waters” ended up sinking Tucker and the previous staff who promised a “relentless” approach to recruiting but put all of their eggs in one basket only to finish “second” more often than not.

But there’s something about this new staff that feels different. They don’t post a lot of flashy pictures with recruits and I don’t expect to see that during official visit season. They don’t talk about what they’re going to do, they just do it.

Kenny Jordan shared a perfect example of that “moving in silence” demeanor by this staff on X.

Michigan State’s entire staff is working tirelessly right now.

Eight coaches at OLSM yesterday. Four of five assistants on the defensive staff at Howell and Macomb Dakota + Hawk, Michalczik also at Dakota yesterday.

Michalczik checked in at Portage Northern, Davison, Cass Tech…

— Kenny Jordan (@Kenny_Jordan5) May 15, 2024

All the assistants are out on the recruiting trail, working “tirelessly” around the clock. Smith himself has been hosting top transfers left and right and most of the time, we don’t even know about it until these guys commit (Nikai Martinez, Ben Roberts are prime examples).

And he’s not even done adding to next season’s roster. He’s working constantly to add more talent, experience, and depth.

This new staff is a breath of fresh air and while there’s a familiar face in Courtney Hawkins back, he’s the one guy who I felt actually developed players on the previous staff. Guys like Brian Wozniak, Jim Michalczik, Demetrice Martin, Blue Adams, and Smith — and everyone else on the staff — are working. Constantly.

While we all believed Tucker was a solid recruiter both in the portal and in the high school ranks, Smith has proven he can hang. He signed the No. 31 recruiting class in 2024 and has the No. 11 transfer class as well — Tucker never had a recruiting class ranked higher than No. 19.

We’re ushering in a new era of Michigan State football and this staff has given us all reasons to be excited about it.