How Michigan State quickly built a connection with Orchard Lake St. Mary's

Michigan State hired Jonathan Smith as its 26th head football coach on Nov. 25, 2023.

There were many tasks to get done for Smith and his staff once they arrived in East Lansing, including re-recruiting the current roster, looking for targets in the transfer portal and focusing on the 2024 recruiting class ahead of the early signing period on Dec. 20, 2023. However, once the recruiting contact period opened not even a week after Smith's hiring, one of the first stops the Spartans made was to Orchard Lake St. Mary's Preparatory. It was clear from the get-go that OLSM was an in-state high school the new staff — known for its West Coast ties — wanted to prioritize.

The staff quickly built a relationship with St. Mary's head coach/athletic director Jermaine Gonzales, associate head coach/recruiting coordinator Greg Dixon and the rest of the OLSM staff, along with the players.

On Dec. 1, 2023, Smith, assistant head coach/co-special teams coordinator/running backs coach Keith Bhonapha and Michigan State offered scholarships to St. Mary's three-star class of 2025 offensive lineman Antonio Johnson and three-star class of 2026 tight end Jack Janda (who has since transferred to Detroit Catholic Central High School). Later in the month, the Spartans offered three-star athlete Bryson Williams, and then in January, MSU offered three-star linebacker Charles "DJ" White and three-star tight end Jayden Savoury.

The immediate emphasis the Michigan State staff put on making connections with the people at St. Mary's has paid off incredibly well. The Spartans have already received verbal commitments from White in April and from Savoury in June — both of whom rank amongst the top-20 players in the state of Michigan and both were priority targets for MSU at their respective positions. Williams recently took an official visit to Michigan State and currently plans to make a commitment decision soon, on July 11, with MSU being one of his finalists. The Spartans are still pursuing Johnson as well.

Spartans Illustrated caught up with Gonzales and several Eaglets at Wayne State in Detroit on Thursday during the Sound Mind Sound Body high school 7-on-7 event.

Gonzales appreciates the way the new Michigan State staff treats his programs and is grateful for the opportunities the Spartans are providing many of his players with at the college level.

"It felt good," Gonzales told Spartans Illustrated when asked about Michigan State wanting to build a relationship with St. Mary's right away. "We were one of the first schools that (MSU's new staff) came to. And, I think I was honest and transparent about all of the other talent around here, not just ours, and gave them a good layout of where the guys are in this area. They respect that and appreciate that, and with all that being said, they were like, 'Well, we like to be here because you've got a lot of the guys right here.' And they met our guys and it's been really good from there."

Gonzales played quarterback for St. Mary's during his high school days and helped the Eaglets win a state championship in 1999. He also played college football at Michigan. Gonzales was named head coach of OLSM in December of 2021, following the retirement of his longtime boss and legendary head coach George Porritt. Prior to being appointed head coach, Gonzales worked under Porritt at St. Mary's for 15 years.

The Eaglets are coming off of a disappointing 3-6 season during the 2023 campaign. The 2024 roster for St. Mary's features several Division I football prospects, outside of the names already mentioned, including Gonzales' son, class of 2027 quarterback Jabin Gonzales, and many others.

The Michigan State prospects — White, Savoury, Williams and Johnson — are senior leaders and ready to guide St. Mary's to success in 2024. The entire team for the Eaglets is determined to improve and Coach Gonzales expect the results to be much different this fall.

"The guys being recruited to MSU are the heartbeat of our team," the elder Gonzales explained. "Some of the guys are leaders working hard for us and obviously big-time players that we expect big things from this year, on and off the field.

"Overall, collectively, as a group, much more mature team from last year. The boys are on a mission — they're hungry, they want a state championship and the togetherness and unity with this team is really great. We've got a great senior class, our senior leadership has been phenomenal up to this point, so we just look forward to seeing how that translates on the field."

There is really only one main objective for St. Mary's in 2024, and the Eaglets are prepared to put in the work to reach that goal this season.

"It's state championship or bust," Jermaine Gonzales said. "That's our mindset and our motto right now. We're taking it one week at a time, one day at a time and one game at a time."

Jermaine Gonzales went on to give his thoughts about each of the players Michigan State is recruiting.

Regarding White, the head coach loves his leadership, maturity and potential. White will play a large role in how far the Eaglets go in 2024.

"He's a leader, he does everything," Coach Gonzales said about White. "I've been knowing DJ since he was a kid. So, watching him develop and grow, I just think the sky's the limit for that kid. His maturity and his range and what he can do (on and off the field) all stand out."

White also spoke with Spartans Illustrated. He is locked in with Michigan State and has been busy helping recruit his current teammates and other players in the state to MSU.

"I didn't play like a big part in recruiting Jayden, but I gave him some tips about it," White said about Savoury. "I talked to him, played around with him a bit, like 'Jayden come to MSU, Jayden come to MSU.' Bryson (Williams), I'm still working on Bryson, trying to get him over here. I talk to Bryson, joke about it every day, but I feel like my man Bryson should come here (to MSU), come on home to the crib."

White also noted that he has one big recruiting target in mind for the Spartans — four-star Michigan defensive lineman commit Bobby Kanka. While Kanka took an official visit to Michigan State earlier this month, he remains solid with the Wolverines. White is hoping to change that.

"I'm still trying to get Bobby Kanka over to Michigan State," White said. "That's my main project right now."

White took his official visit to Michigan State during the weekend of June 7, along with several other current MSU commits. He detailed the trip to East Lansing, including the bowling rivalry he has with Michigan State defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Joe Rossi.

"The official visit, it started off amazing," White noted. "East Lansing has the only Raising Cane's in Michigan right now, and that's probably my favorite spot in Michigan. So, when I got there, it was waiting for me. Then when I woke up the next day, we ate breakfast, really good food. We ate about every three hours.

"We went bowling, and with me and Coach Rossi, since he started recruiting me, it was a bowling (rivalry). So, we were looking forward to that. We ended up tying up with the bowling thing, so neither of us can really speak on each other about it. We ended up going go-kart racing, we had a little airsoft thing they had up there, but I had a lot of fun on my official."

GET THE INSIDE SCOOP ON THE SPARTANS WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION TO SPARTANS ILLUSTRATED!

As for Savoury, who also recently helped lead St. Mary's to a state championship in basketball this past season, Jermaine Gonzales loves the skill set and physicality the tight end brings.

"He's a big target at tight end — catching, blocking, he can do it all," Coach Gonzales said about Savoury. "He's shown that he can be physical, coming from the basketball world to football, and he's got a nasty grit to him that a lot of teams are going to see this year. So, that's what I love most about him, bringing the physical side of the game, too."

Following his commitment to Michigan State, Savoury is ready to focus on his senior season with St. Mary's. He went into detail about his official visit to East Lansing on May 31, which is when he knew he wanted to become a Spartan.

"I think the official visit was a big part of my commitment to MSU and my decision," Savoury explained. "I think going around with the players and the coaches, bonding with them all weekend, was really good."

The only official visit Savoury ended up taking was to Michigan State. He had several others scheduled to various schools, and was still considering taking a trip to Wisconsin after visiting East Lansing, but the Badgers canceled after getting another tight end committed in three-star Niyzi Davis. However, Savoury opted not to take any additional official visits and he pledged to the Spartans on June 17.

The vision of the coaching staff, the current players, the offensive scheme and the university itself are all things that Savoury admires about Michigan State.

"I just think the coaching staff and the players as well, they all are buying in and they all want to make the program better and get to a better place," Savoury said. "I love campus as well. I thought campus was really cool. I know there's a lot of students that go there, too, so I know it will be a lot of meeting new people and a new environment and all that. So, that was really what I liked. And also, just how they use tight ends in their offense (stands out to me)."

Savoury has built a strong bond with Michigan State tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator Brian Wozniak.

"It's grown a lot from him coming over to my school to now him being my (position) coach," Savoury said about his relationship with Wozniak. "So, it's grown a lot and it's been good."

Meanwhile, Williams is a true athlete who can play just about anywhere on the field. As Williams describes himself, he's a "football player" without a positional preference. While Jermaine Gonzales didn't want to give away his exact plans for Williams' usage, St. Mary's is going to call offensive plays for Williams often. He will make an impact on defense as well.

"He's a guy that can do anything on the field really well," Coach Gonzales said about Williams. "So, we absolutely know that we've got to get him the ball."

With a commitment decision expected to come for Williams in 11 days, his finalists are Michigan State, Kansas, Pittsburgh, Harvard and Rice.

Academics are just as important to Williams as athletics. In the classroom, Williams carries a 3.99 grade point average, and he received several scholarship offers from Ivy League schools.

Michigan State is recruiting Williams as an "athlete," and could use him as a wide receiver, running back and on special teams. Many of the other programs are recruiting him on defense as a safety, nickel back or linebacker or a hybrid player.

Williams clearly sees the vision that Smith and his staff are building, which is something that stands out most to him about the program. In addition to Smith and Bhonapha, Williams has also grown close with wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins throughout his recruitment.

"Something that speaks to me about the coaches is their production," Williams said about Michigan State. "Coach Hawkins has put a lot of guys in the NFL and he's been able to develop a lot of guys, so that's really big. "Coach KB (Bhonapha) is a great guy, love him. He's been able to develop some guys and put them in a great position to be successful. Coach Smith, I like what he has going on, especially being able to flip Oregon State from a bad record to a good record in such short time. I like what he's doing over there."

Both White and Savoury plan to attend the "Spartan Dawg Con" event at Michigan State on July 26 and July 27. Williams is considering attending as well, but that may depend on which school he ends up committing to.

Moving toward the trenches, Jermaine Gonzales had high praise for Johnson.

"Antonio, he's a big-time offensive linemen," Coach Gonzales explained about Johnson. "And I truly believe he's the best lineman in the state of Michigan. He's a very physical kid with a great attitude. He's a leader on the O-line — he leads the younger guys and he bring guys with him. He also thrives on pancaking (defenders) on every opportunity that he can get, yet he's still got the ability to use sound technique and form to get the job done for us."

Jermaine Gonzales spoke about his son, Jabin, as well and the skill set and poise he brings to the team as the starting signal-caller.

Gonzales noted that he doesn't coach his son directly too often, but credits OLSM's newly-hired offensive coordinator Nick Merlo and quarterbacks coach Joe Merlo for his development. The young Gonzales brings a lot to the table for the Eaglets.

"Jabin brings that dynamic ability to the quarterback position where he can beat you in multiple ways and he's managing the offense well," the head coach said about his son. "He's a natural leader and his desire to want to win — he wants to win, he loves winning, he's a competitor, he's going to compete. He's been around this program since he was a kid, ever since I was coaching here when he was 2 years old, so it means a lot to him."

St. Mary's also held a camp earlier in the day on Thursday, so Gonzales mentioned his guys were perhaps a little bit tired going into the 7-on-7 event that night. He was just looking to see efficiency and improvement from his team on offense and defense as OLSM competed at Wayne State. He also just wanted to see him team "have fun."

The Eaglets performed well on Thursday and will use the 7-on-7 competitions throughout the summer to build toward success in the fall.

Prior to the competition at Wayne State on Thursday, the Eaglets participated in the 7-on-7 camp at Michigan State on June 23. St. Mary's had a nice showing in East Lansing as well.

"I think it was a good building moment for us as a team," White said about the 7-on-7 event at MSU. "We started off pretty good against Saline. Then we played Cass Tech, ended up getting past them. Then we ran into a little bump against Harper Woods and ended up pulling one out against Catholic Central. But I think the thing about 7-on7s is it's only for us to build team chemistry. So, I thought that was a good moment for us to get out there and build some team chemistry."

Williams built off of White's comments and added that these summer events and workouts are important for the team to learn Nick Merlo's new offense and to build camaraderie.

"I feel like 7-on-7 is really huge for us, especially with the new offensive coordinator coming in," Williams said. "It's just being able to get plays in against real defenses, real reps. So I think that's really big. We look at every 7-on-7 opportunity to grow as a team, as an offense, even as a defense, just perfecting things. Our defense was pretty good last year, but we're just fixing some spots and getting stronger."

Savoury then went on to speak about the team's goals for the 2024 season and why the team is confident heading into the campaign.

"We're definitely trying to come out and do better than last year," Savoury said. "I think we have a better offense. And I think we have more chemistry this year than last year, especially in the senior group. I think the senior group is leading better than last year. So, we're looking forward to it and hopefully we'll be winning more games, making a good run in the playoffs."

White also provided his thoughts on 2024 team and believes the Eaglets are a much-improved team year-over-year.

"I think we're just a better squad than last year," White explained. "There's not so many individuals. We all come into it together, collectively, as a team. And I feel like that's going to change us between the 3-6 team (from last year) to possibly winning a state championship (this year)."

Orchard Lake St. Mary's kicks off the 2024 season on Aug. 29 versus Portage Northern High School.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Join the discussion on this article in our premium forums by clicking here.

You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Threads, TikTok, and Instagram.

For video content, including our Red Cedar Radar podcast, find us on YouTube and consider subscribing.