DJ Uiagalelei comments on Jonathan Smith leaving Oregon State for Michigan State

Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei seemingly shared his thoughts on Jonathon Smith being hired away from the Beavers by Michigan State on Saturday.

It was made official during Week 13’s afternoon slate, Smith will lead the Spartans, as they’ve hired the now-former Oregon State head coach. Afterwards, Uiagalelei took to X, formerly known a Twitter, to share his reaction.

Understandably, Uiagalelei isn’t exactly happy, and he let the college football world revel in his disappointment.

Well 😕

— DJ Uiagalelei (@DJUiagalelei) November 25, 2023

Alas, Oregon State is sad to see Smith go, as he’s fresh off wrapping up an 8-4 regular season with the Beavers to cap off a successful three-year stretch. He took over in 2018 and rebuilt the PAC-12 squad.

Uiagalelei is finishing up his first season under Smith’s tutelage. Prior, he was the starting quarterback for the Clemson Tigers.

Whether or not DJ Uiagalelei remains in town now remains to be seen. Nevertheless, their lone season together was a successful one, if it comes to that.

More on Jonathan Smith, Michigan State Spartans

Prior to the hire, Michigan State insider Chris Solari reported AD Alan Haller relieved the current Spartans’ coaching staff of their duties Saturday.

Smith went 34-35 in six seasons at Oregon State, including a 10-3 season in 2022 that finished with a Las Vegas Bowl win.

Smith was asked if he interviewed for the Michigan State job amid reports of him being linked to the Spartans’ gig following Oregon State’s loss to Oregon.

“No decisions have been made,” Smith said. “I’ve asked this team to take a locked-in approach for four months and that was a little bit of the conversation this week with so much uncertainty with the Pac-2 and what’s taking place. I’ve taken the same approach. We’ll go from there.”

Smith doubled down in his approach to tell his team to not focus on the outside noise.

“We’ve talked about outside noise throughout the year, and we talked to the team just a couple of days ago about a bunch of rumors and told them they had to stay locked in,” Smith said.

Smith was also asked about whether or not he’s communicated with Athletic Director Scott Barnes recently He also added that he wouldn’t go into the details of their conversations.

“Scott and this administration have done a lot to navigate unprecedented times and so we’ve met weekly and talked about that approach,” Smith said. “Not just for football, but the athletic department, scheduling, and all that, so it’s been a weekly conversation.”

On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this article.