FOOTBALL

Why Jonathan Smith might be the perfect hire for Michigan State Football

This was a great hire.

Published

2 years ago

November 25, 2023

Zack Theis

Michigan State football made a splash hire of Oregon State’s Jonathan Smith and he seems like the perfect fit.

Michigan State football finally has its next head coach and it’s the Spartans’ top candidate in former Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith.

With this hire, Michigan State has its 26th head coach in program history and someone who might be the perfect hire for the situation that the Spartans are in. The situation, a rebuild, is something that Smith is accustomed to especially coming from Oregon State.

For those who do not know much about Oregon State and the history of its football program, the Beavers do not have a lot of history of winning 9-10 games. Oregon State, for the most part, hasn’t won a whole lot and has only won 10 games in a season three times. One of those times was under Smith. When Jonathan Smith came to Oregon State, it was coming off a one-win season. Not only were the Beavers coming off a one-win season, but Oregon State is in a location that might not be the easiest to recruit.

After a few years at Oregon State, Smith led the Beavers to their first winning season since 2013. After that 2021 season, he had players and coaches continue to buy in and get their first 10-win season since 2006 in 2022. This was not only a one-year thing, Smith has Oregon State at eight wins this year and in the top 25.

In a time when the transfer portal was growing and college football conferences were expanding, Smith was able to build a team that could compete with programs like Washington due to toughness. It’s known that Smith is willing to take a chance on players in the transfer portal. Just look at their quarterback position. Not only do I expect Smith to come in and bring some players with him, but I also expect him to try to keep some of these players at Michigan State. You could argue that if he could turn around Oregon State in the amount of time he did, he could turn around Michigan State as the Spartans have a fuller cupboard than the Beavers did when he took over.

This is a perfect situation for Smith to come into. He knows what it is like to build a program that has been down for the last few years. This might take a few years but it seems like players love how he coaches and with a new coaching staff, it might bring energy back into Michigan State football. This is about as good of a job as any by the athletic department to find their next head coach and now Smith has to build his staff, try to keep these players in the program, and sign a class in the next month. It won’t be easy but it sure will be a fun month.

Welcome to East Lansing, Coach Smith.