Jonathan Smith: 'No decisions have been made' on Michigan State job

Jonathan Smith did not reveal whether or not he’d take the Michigan State head coaching gig. The Oregon State head coach has been linked to the job as the Spartans look to enter a new era of the football program.

Smith’s been successful in rebuilding the Beavers over the last six years, but he decided to focus squarely on the season amid uncertainty throughout the sport. Oregon State and Washington State were left behind in realignment.

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.”

As far as when he could decide to stay at Oregon State or go to Michigan State, he had one answer, again.

“Don’t know,” Smith said. “To be determined.”

Barnes and Oregon State want to make sure Smith is not tempted to leave. However, Smith did recently admit his agent is out there, checking in there on other jobs.

“I’m not trying to be sarcastic here,” Smith said. “I’ve got an agent that’s got a job. He best be finding out what is out there and people calling. That’s how that works. I can tell you from his side he best be working just because I’m paying him so much. They get a percentage and I’m making him a couple million bucks.

“I’m not trying to be sarcastic. Any coach, they’re aware of what’s potentially out there if their agent is doing their job. I’m not trying to dodge the question. I’m trying to be truthful.”