Editor's Note: This is one part of a three-part series examining three of MSU's top candidates for its football head coach position. Brendan Moore looks at Duke's Mike Elko, Chase Glasser discusses Kansas' Lance Leipold, and Jeremy Dewar breaks down Oregon State's Jonathan Smith. For the latest intel, be sure to click through to our Spartans Illustrated Message Board where we share the latest information (subscribers).
Jonathan Smith has been the name on everyone’s lips the last few days it seems, as many Spartans fans got the chance to see his Oregon State Beavers take on a common opponent, the Washington Huskies.
Smith has taken on a slow build at Oregon State, his alma mater, which I feel it is fair to say was in a much worse roster situation (and facilities situation) than he would have if he comes to East Lansing. In his first three years, he went 2-10, 5-7 and 2-5 (2020 COVID season). Smith saw the progress break through in 2021 at 7-6, 10-3 in 2022, and now the Beavers will finish with eight or nine wins in the 2023 regular season depending on the result of Friday's game against Oregon.
Spartans Illustrated reported late last week that Smith was one of the candidates to progress to the second round of interviews with Michigan State. With the way things are currently trending, and based off of the intel Spartans Illustrated has gathered, Smith is a strong candidate and is near the top of the list for Michigan State.
Smith has built a roster using talent from the states of California, Oregon and Arizona but also has hit well on the portal after 2021, including starting quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei this season, a one-time, blue-chip recruit who never found his footing at Clemson. Smith is a former QB, who has come up as a QB coach at Boise State (including a visit to East Lansing 2012), and Washington, where he eventually led a very successful offense under Chris Peterson. The Washington offense dropped off significantly after Smith left for Corvallis.
Concerns have been voiced as Smith has never been east of the Rocky Mountains in his career. However, his staff hiring at Oregon State is encouraging, including when Smith said he was not looking to “just get the Oregon State band back together.” He challenged himself to find coaches that could help the Beavers program without just relying on his old network.
This approach gave me big Adam Nightingale vibes (I know, I know) which is when I moved Smith to the top of my personal list. That also made it seem that he would be a target for Alan Haller, as Smith gives big Fralick, Nightingale, and Hosler vibes - a young, hungry coach with established success in player development and someone who is looking to come in at a middle salary with the chance to earn bonuses.
Sources have indicated to me that quarterback development was high on the list for MSU's search committee - it makes sense that Smith has stayed a consistent target.
MORE: The case for Duke's Mike Elko as Michigan State's football coach
MORE: The case for Kansas' Lance Leipold as Michigan State's football coach
