Jonathan Smith shares excitement for rivalry with Michigan

New Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith is eager for the in-state rivalry with Michigan, despite not coaching a game for the Spartans yet.

Then again, it’s not hard to get up for that game after the Wolverines owned the college football world last season. But Smith might be the guy to bring Michigan State back to the forefront of highly competitive Big Ten football and the College Football Playoff.

But you have to beat the kings of the state, which right now, is Michigan.

“Love being a part of a rivalry in this state that’s passionate on both sides of it,” Smith said. “Looking forward to being a big part of it.”

To beat a team like Michigan, the former Oregon State head coach will have to rebuild the Spartans. There was a brief peak under former coach Mel Tucker, which included an 11-win campaign.

But it quickly fell apart. Smith spoke about the work within their program during his postgame press conference after their Spring Showcase in mid-April. 

He explained how every coach enjoys the development aspect of their team, both individually and collectively. That’s then even better for the staff when the players themselves are also all in on that effort.

“Yeah, I will say I think that’s why you coach is you enjoy improvement and the process that takes,” Smith said. “We’ve got a long way to go. I enjoy, this coaching staff enjoys that process of improvement and development. Especially working with a group – these guys like football. They like being around it, they like practicing, they like studying it.”

In six years with the Beavers, Smith went 34-35, but went 25-13 in his final three seasons, including a 10-3 campaign in 2022.

Smith and the Spartans have had a lot to do over the course of the offseasonThat comes with any new career opportunity, especially for one with a team that went 4-8 last year and 9-15 over the past two and specifically one that’s coming out of a tenure that ended in a scandal.

Part of that was what took place for Michigan State on the recruiting trail. The team did lose 36 players via the transfer portal. They also had to rework their freshman class after the dismissal of Tucker.

However, the Spartans, heading into the summer, have 37 new players coming in. 17 arrive from the portal while 20 more will join from their recruiting class.