Tom Izzo gives initial impressions of Jonathan Smith hire at Michigan State

Tom Izzo holds a lot of sway in East Lansing. So his impression of new Michigan State football coach Jonathan Smith will naturally carry some weight.

The good news for Smith? Izzo seems to be a fan already.

“And Jonathan Smith, that was a decision that Alan [Haller] made that I think’s going to be a very good decision. I have been impressed, did not know him that well, talked to him one time. I have been impressed and very impressed last night getting the chance to sit down face to face for an hour and a half. I just think he brings maybe who we are. He’s kind of a blue collar attitude, too,” Izzo said.

Izzo also thinks one aspect of Smith’s tenure at Oregon State could serve him well as the head coach for Michigan State: An ability to build up a program in a state that has a bigger, flashier program.

That was Oregon and is now Michigan, and Izzo thinks Smith is well equipped to build up the Spartans program.

“And has developed players and has kind of been the program that nobody respected as much with Oregon right down the road and figured out a way and how to handle that and deal with it. So his personality and everything, it’s great,” Izzo said.

Haller explained why Smith became the top candidate for Michigan State

As Haller waded into the search for a new head football coach, a number of things made Smith attractive as a candidate. And beyond not hearing a bad word about Smith, Haller could see how Smith would fit nice in East Lansing.

The more and more the two interacted, the more comfortable Haller got. Plus, Smith has certainly proved his mettle on the field.

You know, he just — he can coach. But he fits in to us. He was so much like some of our other head coaches. He had a community feel to him, he loved the student athletes, he wanted to develop them. It was about the university, it wasn’t about him,” Haller said, tacking on a bit about a humorous back-and-forth he had with Smith. “I told him we have 53 people in our football building in terms of support staff. He’s like, ‘Oh, that’s way too many.’ I was like, ‘I like you.’ He’s like, ‘I don’t need that many people.’ I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to hold you to that coach.’ So it’s on tape, please print it.”

Haller also shared that while he might not have heard one single rave review that sold him on Smith, the lack of drawbacks or red flags stood out.

“There was nothing negative ever said about him. It was that,” Haller said. “No one said anything about him that raised a flag. It was, ‘This guy is awesome, the community is going to love him. They’re going to love his style of play. He recruits well,’ and everyone said that.”