A lot of head coaches preach trust. Linebacker Jordan Hall wanted Michigan State’s first-year head coach Jonathan Smith to prove it.

In the first team meeting when Smith arrived in East Lansing, Smith gave each player a piece of paper. He asked everyone to write down three things they thought were the issues with the team in the 2023 season.

Smith said he was going to go through all of the answers.

Hall wrote down the mismanagement of egos and lack of connectivity as his first two issues.

The third thing Hall wrote down wasn’t an issue.

It was his phone number.

He told Smith that this was his way to build trust with him. Hall wanted to make sure that Smith was going to read all the papers.

“A lot of head coaches when they’re in the position, they care, but not to a certain extent,” Hall said. “They’ll have someone else do it just to kind of see what the basis is.”

Hall told Smith to give him a call once he read it, and Smith did.

“He gave me a call (and) we sat down,” Hall added. “That was kind of like a big jump start to our relationship. Just from that experience alone, I have a lot of trust in him and I feel like he has the team’s best interest at heart.”

This was all before Hall had his mind fully made up that he wanted to stay at Michigan State and not explore other schools. Hall did not end up making his decision until late in December.

“I just kinda wanted to see how the chips fell,” Hall said. “I think I made the right decision in staying here. I really like the new staff and the things they have going on.”

Hall has also had the chance to build a relationship with new defensive coordinator Joe Rossi. Hall even had a phone conversation with Rossi to go over some things that he could help Hall improve on like blitzing, tackling, play recognition, and footwork.

“When I talked to him on the phone when he was first hired here, he had a few good things to say about me,” Hall said about Rossi. “But most of it was just corrections about things that he felt like he could help me most improve on.”

There are some new faces on the roster as well, not just the coaching staff. In the linebackers room alone, the Spartans brought in transfers Wayne Matthews III (Old Dominion) and Jordan Turner (Wisconsin). Additionally, true freshman Brady Pretzlaff is an early enrollee and has been participating in spring practice.

Building trust with some of his new teammates is something that will come.

“Everything’s just gonna come with consistency and time,” Hall said. “That’s how you trust one another. So, that’s through practice, that’s through coming and meeting extra over time. The trust will grow depending on one another.”

Circling back to the team meeting when Smith first arrived, Hall mentioned the lack of connectivity as one of the issues that plagued the Spartans in 2023. That seems to be improving under the new staff.

“We’re more connected with the defense,” Hall said. “We’ve met everyday, making sure that everybody’s under the same understanding. No discredit to the last staff, but it just seems like we're more connected this year in that way and everybody understanding their role and other people’s roles.”

Michigan State will continue spring practice for the next few weeks before it all culminates inside Spartan Stadium on April 20 with the Spring Showcase.

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