Sources: Five assistants set to join Jonathan Smith's staff at Michigan State
Michigan State football’s new head coach Jonathan Smith is expected to bring five Oregon State assistant coaches with him to East Lansing, sources tell SpartanMag.com.
Michigan State announced Smith as the 26th head coach in program history on Saturday. The former Oregon State head coach was awarded the 2022 Pac-12 Coach of the Year award after guiding the Beavers to their first 10-win season since 2006.
Several assistants from Smith’s coaching staff will follow him from Corvallis to East Lansing:
- Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brian Lindgren
- Offensive line coach Jim Michalczik
- Assistant head coach and running backs coach Keith Bhonapha
- Tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Brian Wozniak
- Secondary coach Blue Adams
In addition to the aforementioned assistant coaches, Smith is also expected to bring head strength and conditioning coach Mike McDonald, director of player personnel Cole Moore and chief of staff and director of football operations Dan Van De Riet to Michigan State, sources tell SpartanMag.com.
Lindgren, 43, has held the role of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oregon State since 2018. The former Idaho quarterback began his coaching career at Redlands, where he worked with the program’s quarterbacks. The Walla Walla, Wash., native spent the next five years at Northern Arizona, where he worked his way up from wide receivers coach to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Prior to his arrival at Oregon State, Lindgren was co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Colorado from 2013-15.
Jim Michalczik, 57, is also expected to join Smith’s staff at Michigan State. He has been the Beavers’ offensive line coach since 2018. Prior to his time in Corvallis, Michalczik spent five seasons as Arizona’s offensive line coach. Michalczik brings NFL experience to East Lansing, spending time with the Raiders’ offensive line from 2009-10. Prior to his stint in Arizona, Michalczik was offensive coordinator at Cal for three seasons. Michalczik was a Joe Moore Award finalist in 2021, which honors the nation’s top offensive line unit.
Michigan State’s offensive staff will also include Oregon State tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Brian Wozniak and associate head coach and running backs coach Keith Bhonapha.
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Wozniak has served as the Beavers’ tight ends coach since 2018. The young assistant began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Oregon State. The Loveland, Ohio, native played his college football at Wisconsin.
Bhonapha, 43, began his coaching career at Hawaii in 2003. He spent the next two decades across the West Coast and has mentored several NFL Draft selections. Bhonapha joined the Beavers’ coaching staff prior to the 2023 season after spending 2022 at Boise State. Smith and Bhonapha crossed paths at Washington while the two worked under former Huskies head coach Chris Petersen.
Smith’s lone defensive hire—at the time of publication—is Oregon State secondary coach Blue Adams. Adams, 44, joined the Smith’s staff in 2018 after a two-year stint at South Florida. The Miami, Fla., native has ties to Michigan that date back to 2003. Adams was selected by the Detroit Lions in the seventh round of the 2003 NFL Draft. After a six-year professional career, Adams began his coaching career at Purdue as a graduate assistant.
Michigan State wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins and interim head coach Harlon Barnett could be retained by Smith, sources tell SpartanMag.com, though nothing is finalized.
