Nick Marsh reaffirms commitment after Jonathan Smith hiring

Nick Marsh has reaffirmed his commitment to Michigan State after the Spartans officially hired Jonathan Smith.

What a wild Saturday for Michigan State football fans. After the final whistle blew in Detroit on Friday, ending the 2023 season, changes began rapidly happening. With the university officially naming Jonathan Smith its 26th head coach, a scramble to get things in place has started.

In another article I wrote discussing what comes next from a recruiting standpoint with Smith hired, I touched on retaining current 2024 recruits and its importance. As we can all expect, the biggest star in the group would be four-star wide receiver Nick Marsh. The most asked question I’ve seen around social media today was related to whether Smith would be able to keep Marsh committed to MSU.

Late on Saturday night, we may have gotten our first clue on that.

In fact, 247Sports MSU Insider Corey Robinson shared quotes from an interview with Nick on Saturday and got his thoughts on the hire.

2024 four-star WR Nick Marsh remains solidly committed to #MichiganState after the Jonathan Smith hire.

He tells @C_Robinson247: “It's been a long road but I honestly feel like this is a great start… I think J Smith was a great hire.”

Much more (VIP): https://t.co/PlEIZczjXB

— SpartanTailgate.com (@SpartanTailgate) November 26, 2023

Corey caught up with Nick and, breathe easier Spartan fans, he was excited to learn of the Smith hire. Marsh said he thought that Smith was “a great hire”.

As I mentioned in my other article, Marsh’s commitment to Michigan State was really important to the program and he really loves being a Spartan. Part of his recruitment, however, was based on the relationship he had fostered with former wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins. Reports surfaced today implying that Marsh would definitely stay if Hawkins was retained. This is not a guarantee, however. Many MSU fans have grown worried that he may be gone if Hawkins goes.

Marsh did elaborate more about his and Hawkins’ relationship in the interview with Corey. Of course, Nick would love Hawkins to stay on but it does not appear to be make or break. For all the information, check out Corey’s interview above or more of his work for 247Sports. He, Justin Thind, and Stephen Brooks do some great work there.

While there is still time for things to change, the information shared on Saturday has to make MSU fans feel better about the ability to keep Marsh’s talents in East Lansing. For those who don’t know, he is the 109th overall player in the 247Sports rankings for 2024. He is the highest-ranking recruit in MSU’s class and loves East Lansing. He and his mom (known simply to MSU Twitter fans as ‘Mama Tron’) have become focal points of the MSU community. Marsh really cares about the university and would have huge impacts both on and off the field moving forward.

Keep an eye out over the next few days as new coach Jonathan Smith completes his staff. Should Courtney Hawkins stay at MSU, that would be another great step in the process to keep Nick Marsh here. The same goes for many other offensive recruits. So the next few days will be very informative.

Keep it here with us at Spartan Shadows for all the new hire updates.