Jonathan Smith speaks at National College Showcase ahead of 'busy' month

It will be an important next few weeks for Michigan State football and first-year head coach Jonathan Smith. Official visits will begin this weekend on MSU's campus. Additionally, the team is back in East Lansing participating in summer conditioning and the staff will host several prospects camps in June as well.

“Huge month of June with our guys getting in shape back in the weight room, reinstalling some schematics, got some new players coming in we’re excited about,” Smith said on Thursday. “And then you throw in the recruiting side, it’s a busy, busy month.”

The entire Michigan State coaching staff was at Wayne State University on Thursday for the National College Showcase in Detroit put on by the Sound Mind Sound Body organization. Several Michigan State targets were participating in the showcase event in front of the MSU staff and many other college coaches.

Smith also spoke to the campers on Thursday morning alongside several other head coaches, including Michigan’s Sherrone Moore and Purdue’s Ryan Walters.

“I’m excited about the opportunity this month to get around more players,” Smith said to the media after he spoke to campers. “We’ve got camps on our campus. Hopefully, we get a lot of in-state local talent. I think we said it from the beginning, we want to build this roster inside out and I have been impressed with the amount of talent within driving distance of our place.”

Smith and the staff have made a conscious effort to learn about and evaluate the talent in the Midwest. He thinks the reception to the staff with high school coaches and players has been good. Smith’s goal is to get to a point where the Spartans can acquire a majority of talent from the high school ranks and supplement from the transfer portal. In the class of 2024, Michigan State added 25 transfers and 20 scholarship high school players.

With all the transfer portal additions this spring, Smith is finally starting to see some clarity in the roster construction.

“Clarity, it helps to move forward,” he said. “That’s why I’m excited about this month, diving back into the weight room, reinstalling, getting around our guys with clarity of like, ‘this is what the roster looks like.’”

There are plenty of new faces entering the fray that have already arrived and that will trickle in throughout the next few weeks. With that, establishing good team chemistry will be important for the Spartans.

“I think that’s something that’s really important,” Smith said. “(I’m) excited about that opportunity through this summer, especially this month and the month of August as we build it together.”

More coverage from the Sound Mind Sound Body National College Showcase:

2026 three-star WR Larry Miles 'blessed' to receive Michigan State offer

Catching up with Michigan State prospects at the National College Showcase

_______________________________________________________________________________________

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.