Michigan State Football: Notable quotes from Jonathan Smith after Spring Showcase

Michigan State football coach Johnathan Smith discusses the team’s performance following the Spring Showcase at Spartan Stadium.

A lot of things can change in a year. Following his first spring game with Michigan State football, new head coach Johnathan Smith had plenty to say about his team’s performance. The game introduced fans to what this team is going to be working on as the Spartans prepare for the 2024 season.

Following the Spring Showcase, we had the chance to get some comments from Johnathan Smith.

“Nick Marsh is getting more, and more comfortable in this scheme.”

One of the standouts from the Spring Showcase was freshman wide receiver Nick Marsh. The four-star recruit showed that he’s going to be pushing all summer to get time with the top offensive unit. While running with the second unit and Tommy Schuster, Marsh made several great plays. The best had to be his 75-yard touchdown reception from Schuster. At times, Marsh made it look easy on his catches. Smith was impressed with what Marsh did with the opportunities that he was given. He praised not only how comfortable he looked, but his pure athleticism as well.

“We are always going to be looking to add to our roster at all positions.”

The context for this answer came from a question about dealing with the transfer portal. With so many changes on this roster compared to last year, the Spartans are clearly rebuilding. That does not mean that this is simply a throw-away year, though. Smith made it clear that this team is going to do what it needs to do to get better. He acknowledged that not everyone who played in the Spring Showcase will play in the fall. The important thing, according to Smith, was to make sure that an environment was created that lets players see the opportunities they have.

“The reason you coach is because you want to see improvement.”

The expectations for this Michigan State football team are not very high. The encouraging thing though is that that is not the attitude that the team is taking. When asked about what he likes about coaching in a rebuild, Smith responded by saying that the focus currently is on seeing constant improvement. The focus of this coaching staff seems to be getting the little things right and celebrating those small victories. Hopefully these small victories continue to build during the summer and begin to turn into some real victories once we get to the fall. He then acknowledged that the team has a ways to go but at least it won’t be nearly as difficult to watch this spartan team play this year as they continue to improve.

Overall thoughts

It’s clear this year that Smith is trying to change the culture at Michigan State. After a rough year for the football program, this is a breath of fresh air for fans. He talked a lot about improvement and building the culture. That starts by building relationships. The next step according to Smith is having individual meetings with the players and discussing their experiences in spring ball so there can be adjustments for the summer and fall. It is also encouraging to see that Smith is going to be allowing these guys some time to grow.

Hopefully with an improved culture with this new staff, they can help this Spartan team make some noise in the fall.