Gorney: Jonathan Smith is the hire Michigan State needed
If Michigan State wanted to do the same thing over again and bring in a new head coach with a defensive focus, the Spartans could have done it.
Duke’s Mike Elko would have been fine. NC State’s Dave Doeren has four-straight winning seasons with the Wolfpack. Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi has a long track record of defensive success and an 11-win season with the Panthers.
Former coach Mel Tucker was defensive-minded. Before him, Mark Dantonio had a history of coaching defenses.
But if Michigan State brought in another defensive coach, similar results probably would have come. An uninventive, non-exciting offense would have to hang on while the defenses looked stout but only for so long.
Instead, Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith was the right pick - by far.
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He played quarterback at Oregon State. Then last season, Smith led the Beavers to their first 10-win season since 2006 and only the third in program history.
For years, decades even, Oregon State was not a major threat. Smith has turned them into a tough team to beat, especially in Corvallis, and he could accomplish the same things in East Lansing.
If Michigan State feels like Michigan’s little brother, Smith comes from the same mindset at Oregon State with Oregon down the road, with the exquisite facilities, the Phil Knight money and all that comes with it.
Smith understands being the blue-collar workman who doesn’t get the respect he deserves. Recruiting in the Pacific Northwest is tough for all the programs but especially Oregon State and Washington State, schools not wanted by any Power Five conference with the Pac-12 dissolution.
So now Smith can bring that mindset to East Lansing and it should resonate well. No, he’s not some big, bad Midwest tough guy who looks like he works second shift at the Ford distribution plant - he was born in Pasadena, Calif., after all - but his teams play tough and hard.
He should be a perfect fit at Michigan State and the players should love him. At Oregon State, Smith has been in a similar situation - a rebuild job with incredible built-in challenges that someone like Smith is smart enough to overcome.
And there are challenges.
From 2010-17, Michigan State had six 10-win or more seasons. Recruiting was going really well. There was legitimate excitement around the program and even in-state recruiting was going better than Michigan.
Since that time, Michigan State has slid. They haven’t been recruiting elite playmakers or quarterbacks. The defense has been good, not great. There was a staleness that took over in East Lansing.
Another challenge is name recognition for Smith, who cannot sell Michigan, cannot sell Ohio State, he’s not Jim Harbaugh or Ryan Day. I’d bet a lot of top prospects in Michigan and across the region couldn’t pick Smith out a lineup right now.
But that will change.
He’s smart, he’s industrious, he gets a lot out of a little and also finds and develops overlooked and under-appreciated recruits.
If Smith can turn Oregon State into a legitimate program, a headache for so many throughout the season, then he can do it at Michigan State.
It won’t be easy but Smith has never known easy as a head coach.
