Michigan State football: Recapping Jonathan Smith’s pre-Iowa presser

Michigan State football coach Jonathan Smith spoke to the media on Monday and touched on a variety of topics.

On Monday, Jonathan Smith met with the media for the first time since immediately following Michigan State football lost to Penn State. The Spartans began to look forward to their final true road game of the season, heading to Kinnick Stadium to take on Iowa on Saturday. Smith was there to discuss what he saw on film from the 10-28 loss, along with what the future held for the last road game of the season.

Here is a quick recap for those who did not watch.

What Jonathan Smith saw on tape

Smith was very complimentary of the defense, especially efforts on third- and fourth-down. He did acknowledge a busted coverage on the 75-yard touchdown pass to make the score 14-10 in favor of Penn State, a lead the Nittany Lions never gave back. The phrase effort was used multiple times.

Offensively, the Spartans struggled in pass protection, which the head coach was quick to acknowledge. Smith wants redshirt freshman quarterback Alessio Milivojevic to remain upright more often, which the offensive line could not accomplish against Dani Dennis-Sutton and the Penn State defensive line. Overall, there was not enough offensively for the Spartans to like.

Even special teams got a shoutout, with redshirt freshman Keshawn Williams and redshirt junior Aveon Grose getting special mentions for effort plays and tackles on special teams as gunners. Ryan Eckley had a punt blocked, and that was grouped into “things to clean up”.

Respect towards Iowa

Smith was quick to give respect to Iowa and long time head coach Kirk Ferentz, acknowledging him as the winningest coach in Big Ten history. This year’s Hawkeyes team is one that Smith called similar to the usual Hawkeye team, with tough, physical defense and running the football as the centerpiece of the program.

Mark Gronowski, a senior transfer, was a player that popped on film for the Spartan head coach, with his ability to both throw and compliment the run game getting a shoutout. The environment from Kinnick Stadium is one Smith is preparing for, as well.

Defensively, they have a solid scheme of players that do their job, mixing pressures, and hiding their coverages. Overall, he is very complimentary of the Hawkeyes.

That said, the staff will be looking back towards last season’s victory over Iowa to look at what went right and how to build on their 2024 success.

Injury updates

Aidan Chiles was seen in a boot on Saturday, and Smith ruled the junior quarterback as day-to-day, with a decision on the initial starting Spartan quarterback from this year to come later in the week.

As far as long term injuries go, players like Alante Brown, Kristian Phillips, and others are not expected back this week. Smith stated that all players injured for the last 8-to-10 weeks are not expected back for the Iowa contest. That list includes linebacker Marcellius Pulliam, tight ends Jayden Savoury and Brennan Parachek, and specialists Tarik Ahmetbasic and Kaden Schickel.

Alessio Milivojevic was also seen with a limp and took hard hits to both shoulders late in the Penn State contest, but the head coach is “optimistic” in the redshirt freshman’s prognosis.

The plan at quarterback

If Alessio Milivojevic is ruled out on Saturday, along with Aidan Chiles, the Spartans will be handing the keys to true freshman Leo Hannan. Hannan won the QB3 role over Ryland Jessee during the season, although Jessee has also joined the travel roster in recent weeks.

If Chiles and Milivojevic are ruled “in” by the Spartans, Smith did reveal that switching quarterbacks throughout the game was on the table.

A few shoutouts

Smith was asked about both Ryan Eckley and Matt Gulbin, along with their impacts, and the coach was quick to shoutout not just their contributions on Saturdays, but their impact on the program throughout the week.

Gulbin’s communication, especially with the adversity from injuries in the line room, was crucial to the Spartans this season.

Offensive line play

Rakeem Johnson and Rustin Young each got some love from Smith for stepping up as redshirt freshmen. Some of the positives Smith discussed were the two’s athleticism on plays, but the drawbacks became each being bull-rushed to cause some pressure on Milivojevic.

Smith did also acknowledge there is additional value for both redshirt freshmen getting reps so early in their careers and gaining experience, with that having a long term impact as they continue to head to the weight room and grow stronger.

Smith was also asked about the development of true freshman Drew Nichols, who has been named a scout team player of the week three times now. The coach was extremely complimentary of the first year player, but would not concede if getting him playing time was on the table for 2025. That said, Smith believes there is a bright future ahead for Nichols, and that he would find the field “sooner rather than later.”

Senior Day runs

The Spartans had a few surprises on senior day, with three redshirt juniors (DT Ben Nelson, LB David Millikin, and P Ryan Eckley) each receiving their ovation, but another trio of redshirt seniors (EDGE Isaac Smith, CB Malcolm Bell, and WR Rodney Bullard Jr.) all did not participate in the festivities.

Smith revealed he had not talked deeply with his punter about him participating in Senior Day, but said that he sees a long pro career for Eckley after his time at MSU wraps up. He revealed a few players ran as “just in case” it was their last time out at Spartan Stadium. The aforementioned trio, along with DB Khalil Majeed, for example, all have a good case for extended eligibility.

It is worth mentioning that RB Nathan Carter ran for Senior Day last season, and declared for the NFL Draft in the spring.

As far as Isaac Smith and Bell are concerned, the head coach carefully worded a response, with the mention of petitions regarding extra eligibility being brought up. He also said that his two defenders were not the only two players he was talking about.

No Practice on Sunday, Monday for Michigan State football

The Spartans traditionally do not practice on Monday, but they had a rare two-day break for game week, as revealed by the head coach. With it being game 11, the staff made the decision not to practice. This has happened a few times before, with the staff electing not to practice on Sunday, but typically came from a later travel back.

Optimistic outlook

Smith is optimistic about the outlook for this program, citing that the staff and players are both hard at work. He cited that there were up to four games where the Spartans could have won if a few plays had been flipped.

As far as selling to donors, Smith is focused on achieving consistency in day-to-day operations, controlling what he can control in the Michigan State football program to have what the team shows on Saturday help sell the donors.

Two games left

Smith said that the team knows they have two games left, guys to play, and practice on Tuesday on his focus.

He did not seem as focused on a long-term vision when responding to this question in particular.

Conversations with J Batt, revenue sharing

The new era of revenue sharing is on Smith’s mind, with him calling it vitally important in this landscape.

Smith said he and athletic director J Batt have met consistently throughout the season, even acknowledging he met with Batt before seeing the media.

Those two have conversations on infrastructure, best practices, to be aligned with each other for an end goal for the program. It is not just conversations about dollar amounts for the two.

Pace of the rebuild

Smith would not concede that he was surprised about the pace of the rebuild, especially with the size of the Big Ten and how deep it is. As he has said throughout the year, nothing is easy in the Big Ten.

The staff remains focused on development, finding ways to grow and develop their players. That said, Smith said that this is not any stubbornness about avoiding adjustments to make their goal more attainable.

Smith would not concede if the goal of where he wants Michigan State football was attainable in two years (from when he took the job), but would admit frustration over a lack of conference victory this season.