Jonathan Smith reveals greatest lessons he learned as assistant coach

Prior to becoming a head coach, Jonathan Smith was a player and an assistant at several stops in the Northwest, coaching and playing under some of that region’s biggest names, including Chris Petersen, Mike Riley, and Dennis Erickson.

While at his first Big Ten Media Days as the head coach of Michigan State, Smith shared the greatest lessons he learned as an assistant under those coaches.

“I could talk for quite a while on really all three of those guys,” Jonathan Smith said. “I think about Mike Riley being authentic. Sometimes guys get the title of head coach, been doing it for a while, he never really changed his personality type. Strategy, learned a ton from Coach Riley in regards he was an offensive coordinator and a defensive coordinator in his career. That was my early-on learning about the game, got a ton from that.”

As a player, Smith was a standout quarterback for the Oregon State Beavers. That was under Erickson and Riley. He later got his start as an assistant coach at Oregon State under Riley and would find himself working under Erickson at Idaho.

“Dennis Erickson, ultimate competitor,” Smith said. “This guy was competitive. No slow-down, no back-down out of that guy. Evaluator or talent. He could recognize talent quickly. And had long conversations with him as a young coach on how he did that, on recognizing talent.”

Jonathan Smith worked as an assistant under Chris Petersen at both Boise State and Washington before returning to Oregon State to rebuild his alma mater.

“Chris Petersen, on the coaching side, been with him the longest by far. He told a ton. You talk about organization, vision, setting a direction, alignment, creating alignment within a program, an organization, master at it. Creativity, offensive background, but creativity on the offensive side,” Smith said. “Then continued to always push to find ways to improve, never staying the same. I learned that from Coach Pete.”

It was with the tools Smith learned as an assistant coach that he was able to rebuild the Oregon State program. Now, he’s looking to do it again with Michigan State, starting with the 2024 season.

Michigan State HC Jonathan Smith looking to ‘establish an identity’ in year one

A key first step for Jonathan Smith at Michigan State is finding a way to build an identity in his first season there.

“Well, it starts with laying a foundation of some work ethic and accountability within your own building,” Smith said.

“But then you’ve got to continue to add to your building. So, build a roster inside-out in regards to location. You know, in driving distance there’s a lot of good players right here in the Midwest, the state of Michigan and in driving distance from campus. So that’s been our approach on the recruiting side to fill the building that way. Then you want to establish an identity going into a year one that you can build off of.”