Michigan State head coaches Adam Nightingale and Jonathan Smith lead way into important weekend

East Lansing, Mich. – When Michigan State’s new head football coach Jonathan Smith and Spartan hockey coach Adam Nightingale formally meet for the first time, they’ll discover that they have a few similarities.

Alan Haller hired Nightingale on May 3, 2022, just eight months into his tenure as Michigan State athletic director. One of Haller’s first tasks was to find the school’s next hockey coach following another disappointing season under former coach Danton Cole.

Nightingale, a former Michigan State hockey player, returned to his alma mater after a two-year head coaching stint for the USA Hockey National Development Under-17 team.

Smith became Haller’s first football head coaching hire as athletic director when Michigan State announced Smith as its new football coach on Nov. 25. Haller, who played defensive back for Michigan State from 1988-91, has had a hand in the Spartans’ past three football coaching searches, with a greater role each time. He assisted Mark Hollis and Tom Izzo in the hiring of Mark Dantonio in 2006. He served under former athletic director Bill Beekman when Beekman used a search firm to try to land Luke Fickell in 2020, only to reverse field and engineer a hasty hire of Mel Tucker several days later.

Haller learned from those experiences, and his successful search in landing Nightingale, in enduring a lengthy quest for a new Michigan State head football coach this fall. After secondary coach Harlon Barnett served as Michigan State’s interim head coach for the final 10 games of the season, Haller hired Smith from Smith’s alma mater, Oregon State.

The Beavers improved each year during Smith’s six-season tenure in Corvallis, Ore. Smith also had successful stints as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Washington, Boise State, Montana and Idaho.

Haller knows that Smith’s hiring is crucial to his legacy as Michigan State’s athletic director. With a cloud of uncertainty hovering over the program following Tucker’s firing, this hire is critical for the football program and university as a whole.

Nightingale has quickly revitalized a struggling Michigan State hockey program. The Spartans finished 18-18-2 last season, good for their most single-season wins since the 2011-12 campaign. Michigan State narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament last season after advancing in the Big Ten Tournament for the first time in the conference’s 10-year history.

Nightingale’s No. 7-ranked Spartans are 10-4-2 and will play host to No. 20 Notre Dame in a two-game series this weekend at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing.

Like Nightingale, Smith has a project on his hands with the football program. Michigan State has finished below .500 three of the past four seasons and endured three of the worst statistical performances in Spartan football history this fall.

Smith won’t coach Michigan State on the football field for nine months, but the newly-hired Spartan football coach has an important weekend ahead of him as he and his staff will play host to the first official visit recruiting weekend of their tenure in East Lansing.

Smith and his family uprooted their lives in Oregon and moved across the country to come to Michigan State. At Smith’s introductory press conference, he said that he’s excited to go to his first ice hockey game at Michigan State, as Oregon State doesn’t have a team.

At his Tuesday press conference, Nightingale addressed Smith’s hiring and the excitement he hopes Smith will bring to the football program and university as a whole.

“He seems like a great person, he’s a family man and I’m excited he’s a part of our community,” Nightingale said.

With weekends of recruiting and official visits on deck, Smith may have to wait on attending a hockey game until after the early signing period, which starts Dec. 20. When Smith has a chance, though, Nightingale is excited to host him at a packed Munn Ice Arena.

“I’m sure he’s very busy getting used to being here and getting his family settled in, but I’d love for him to come out one night,” Nightingale said. “We need more of that.”