Jonathan Smith gives his reaction to House settlement changes

The planned adoption of the settlement in the House v. NCAA lawsuit is set to fundamentally alter the landscape of college sports, finally getting athletic departments to share revenues with athletes. And it’s a change that Michigan State football coach Jonathan Smith is fine with seeing.

Namely, Smith shared he’s happy to see more opportunities for athletes to earn some money. But he also acknowledged, speaking with reporters just before the summer began, that there’s a lot more unknown still to be hammered out.

“Into the idea of more opportunity for players. I think creates some way, a path forward. There’s still a lot to figure out after that’s finalized,” Smith said.

Additionally, Smith was pressed on how he considers NIL to fit in to the recruiting and roster management picture as a revenue sharing model emerges.

It will still be part of the puzzle in recruiting, Smith said, but just one piece of a bigger picture.

“There’s definitely a difference,” Smith said of recruiting at Michigan State. “It still starts with the evaluation process and beyond. I think that’s a piece of the pie. What we’re looking for is guys that it is a piece of the pie as they’re considering their options, but then there’s the education, the scheme, the staff, the fit, the area, all those are pieces of the pie.”

Smith described his biggest challenges early in East Lansing

Ahead of fall camp and the 2024 season, Smith has looked back on his time so far at Michigan State and outlined the biggest challenges that he’s faced to this point.

“Obviously, learning, building trust with the roster over six months,” Smith said. “Takes time to build some trust. That’s been something. Knowing the landscape is continuing to change and having to navigate [it] when there’s still some uncertainty on your roster size, and on how this thing is all gonna work.”

Smith has previously had success as a head coach. He went to Oregon State, his alma mater, in 2018. At the time, the Beavers were coming off a 1-11 season that capped off the disastrous Gary Andersen tenure. It took a couple of seasons to rebuild Oregon State, but Smith did and finished with three straight bowl appearances and two straight Top 25 finishes.

At Michigan State, Smith is dealing with another serious rebuild. The Spartans went just 9-15 over the last two seasons. Meanwhile, the Mel Tucker era ended in a scandal.

This all comes at a time of change in college sports. Not only are things like NIL and the Transfer Portal in place now, the House settlement is going to shake up how rosters are constructed and how budgets are built. On top of that, the Big Ten is adding four new schools and changing its division model for scheduling.

Still, Michigan State has a difficult schedule in 2024, with games against Ohio State, Michigan, and Oregon among others.