Jonathan Smith contract worth $52.85 million over 7 years, additional details revealed

Shortly after introducing Jonathan Smith as its next head football coach on Tuesday, Michigan State announced the terms of his contract. His deal is for seven years and worth $52.85 million, the university said.

Smith will make $7.25 million in his first year and receive a $100,000 raise every season after, via The Detroit News’ Madeline Kenney. He’ll also have a $10.75 million pool to hire 10 assistant coaches and support staff.

In addition, Smith will get 50 hours per year to travel on a private plane and a lump sum of $75,000 help with moving expenses as he makes his way to East Lansing from Corvallis, Oregon.

Michigan State officially introduced Smith on Tuesday after announcing his hire over the weekend. He spent six seasons as the head coach at Oregon State, leading his alma mater to a 34-35 record. In each of the last three years, though, Smith took the program to seven-plus wins — including this year’s 8-4 record.

Last season, Oregon State went 10-3 overall and 6-3 in conference play for OSU’s first 10-win season since 2006. It was quite the turnaround under Smith considering Oregon State went 2-10 in his first year at the helm in 2018.

Jonathan Smith on his staff at Michigan State: ‘Midwest ties will be an intention’

As he learns the landscape of Michigan State, the Big Ten and the Midwest, Smith — a Pasadena, Calif. native who has never coached east of the Mountain time zone — said he plans on building his staff with a blend of his past assistants and some with connections to the area. He also hinted some coaches who were on the previous staff could be asked to stick around.

“The intention is to build a staff with great men that are great teachers, that are elite people, that’ll invest in the lives of the players,” Smith said. “Yes, there’s a crew that has been with me for a long time. They’re a lot of the reason that I’m standing up in front of you. So yes, they’ll be a part of that. The intention also, coming over, understanding — it’s not an elephant in the room, I have a lack of deep ties to the Midwest. Cannot wait to get engaged and dial into the high school coaches in Michigan. At the same time, a staff reflecting some background there will be an intention on this staff. There are some good coaches that were currently here. A few of those guys, I will be talking to.

“So we will take some time to put this together because you’ve got to get these things right. The right mix, fit. But yeah, some continuity of what I’ve been around and speak the language from the get-go, Midwest ties will be an intention with some of the others and then, exploring some of the coaches here.”