Jonathan Smith is the new head coach at Michigan State football.
The Spartans hired him in November, away from his alma mater, Oregon State, one day after the conclusion of the 2023 regular season.
MSU went 4-8 last season in a traumatic fall that saw coach Mel Tucker fired in September for off-field conduct. It ended by cleaning house of most assistants, including interim head coach Harlon Barnett, after a season-ending 42-0 loss to Penn State.
Smith, 44, had coached the Beavers since 2017, sporting a 34-35 record. Oregon State was 8-4 in 2023 under Smith, and ranked all season, climbing to No. 10, before losing the final two games to top-10 teams in Washington and Oregon, now both current Big Ten opponents.
Michigan State opens its 2024 season Friday, Aug. 30 vs. Florida Atlantic.
Here is what you need to know about Smith as he takes over the Spartans football program.
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Jonathon Smith history at Oregon State
Smith took over as Oregon State’s head coach after the 2017 regular season concluded. The Beavers were coming off an 1-11 season under two head coaches because Gary Andersen stepped down from the role after six games. The school was a combined 7-29 in the three years prior to Smith and hadn’t made a bowl since 2013.
Smith led the Beavers to three straight bowls for the first time since 2006-09.
Smith's year-by-year record:
- 2018: 2-10
- 2019: 5-7
- 2020: 2-5
- 2021: 7-6
- 2022: 10-3
- 2023: 8-4
Oregon State went 2-10 in 2018 in Smith's rookie season, with wins over Southern Utah and Colorado. It jumped to 5-7 in 2019, barely missing out on a bowl. The Beavers hit the wall with a 2-5 record in the 2020 season impacted by COVID-19.
He finally broke through in 2021 with a winning record in Year 4, delivering Oregon State's first winning season since 2013. They were 7-5 in the regular season, before dropping the LA Bowl to Utah State for a 7-6 record.
In 2022, Oregon State made another big jump, going 10-3. The Beavers dropped their first two conference games to USC and Utah, but rallied to finish the season 7-1 over the final eight weeks for the first double-digit win season for the school in nearly two decades. In the last game of the season, Oregon State knocked off rival Oregon, which was ranked in the top 10, 38-34, and then dismantled Florida, 30-3, in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Smith won Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2022 after leading Oregon State to its first double-digit win season since 2006.
Oregon State didn’t have the same success record-wise in 2023 but still realized success to reach a third straight bowl. The school has been ranked every week of the season despite suffering losses to Oregon, Washington, Washington State and Arizona. The Beavers finished 5-4 in conference with wins over Utah and UCLA, which were ranked at the time.
The 2023 Beavers averaged 33.8 points per game and surrendered 21.5 points per game, both ranked in the top 40 nationally entering Saturday. The offense averaged 426.9 yards per game with 246.1 passing yards and 180.8 rushing yards. The defense gave up 340.3 yards per game and was stout against the run, giving up 104.1 yards per game on the ground compared to 236.2 per game through the air.
Running back Damien Martinez is a semifinalist for the Doak Walker award, finishing with 1,185 yards and nine touchdowns, and transfer quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei threw for 2,638 yards and 21 touchdowns in his first year in the system.
Jonathan Smith coaching background
Smith’s career at Oregon State is the extent of his head coaching experience, but he has been coaching at the college level every year since his playing career ended (more on that later). He has spent the entirety of his coaching career to this point at schools in the Northwest and will venture to East Lansing for his first job east of the Mississippi.
He started as a graduate assistant at Oregon State in 2002, a year after he was done playing. He stayed with Oregon State through 2003 then moved to Idaho to become the school's quarterbacks coach.
He was Idaho’s quarterbacks coach from 2004-09. In his last year with the Vandals, he helped Idaho to a top-ranked offense averaging 451.4 yards and 32.7 points per game. After that season, he got his first crack as an offensive coordinator at another Big Sky school, Montana.
He was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Montana in 2010 and 2011. He helped lead the Grizzlies to the NCAA Division I semifinals in 2011 before jumping back up to the FBS in 2012. Montana ranked No. 16 in the nation in scoring offense in both of his seasons there, averaging 31.7 points in 2010 and 33.9 in 2011.
He joined Chris Petersen’s staff at Boise State as the quarterbacks coach for 2012-13, before following Petersen to Washington in 2014. Smith’s first game at Boise State was a loss against Michigan State in Spartan Stadium in an 11-2 season for the Broncos.
Smith saw his role increase with Washington, where he was promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He was in charge of one of the best offensive seasons in Washington history when the Huskies reached the College Football Playoff in 2016-17 averaging 41.8 points per game with a 12-2 record.
He stayed one more year at Washington before returning to his alma mater after Andersen stepped down as Oregon State’s head coach during the 2017 season.
Jonathan Smith's college career playing at Oregon State
Before helping spark a turnaround as the coach for Oregon State, he was the quarterback of the only 11-win season in school history two decades before. Smith, originally from Los Angeles, did not receive much attention as a high school recruit and joined Oregon State as a walk-on. He played in Corvallis from 1998-2001, took over as the starting quarterback as a redshirt freshman and went on to be a four-year starter.
As a junior in 2000, he helped lead Oregon State to a school record 11-1 season under head coach Dennis Erickson. With Smith under center throwing to future NFL wide receivers Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Oregon State went 10-1 in the regular season to split the Pac-10 title, the first conference title for the school since 1964.
Oregon State ended the season by dismantling Notre Dame 41-9 in the Fiesta Bowl. Smith earned the offensive MVP for completing 16 of 24 passes for 305 yards and three touchdowns to cap off the most successful season in school history. He ended his career with 9,680 passing yards and 55 touchdowns over four years, which were school records at the time.
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Jonathan Smith recruiting and transfer portal moves
Smith was one of the first coaches hired in the 2024 cycle, a benefit of Michigan State parting with Tucker so early in the season. He began reshaping the roster through the transfer portal with nearly half of last year's team leaving for a new opportunity after the disastrous season.
Smith picked up 24 players in the transfer portal to offset the departures, including bringing quarterback Aidan Chiles, the Spartans' starter, tight end Jack Velling and offensive lineman Tanner Miller, along with some of his coaching staff from Oregon State.
Quindarius Dunnigan and D'Quan Douse are two transfers at defensive tackle who could be contributors for the Spartans right away replacing Derrick Harmon and Simeon Barrow Jr., who are now at Oregon and Miami respectively. Holy Cross transfer offensive lineman and Birmingham Brother Rice alum Luke Newman could also factor in as MSU tries to find a new starting five combination on the offensive line.
In high school recruiting, the Spartans' 2024 class ranked 31st according to 247 Sports' composite rankings, headlined by four-star River Rouge wide receiver Nick Marsh, who stayed committed to MSU despite the coaching change. The class consists of 21 players, two four-stars in Marsh and offensive lineman Rustin Young, and 19 three-star recruits. MSU's 24-person transfer class ranked 12th in the country according to 247Sports.
Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press covering the city's four professional teams, the state's two flagship universities and more. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.
