How secure is Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith’s job?

Michigan State hired coach Jonathan Smith after several seasons of poor performance from his players and a disappointing end to his former head coach’s tenure. Coach Smith took over Michigan State’s floundering football program with the hope of rebuilding it, much like he helped rebuild his alma mater’s football program at Oregon State.

Smith and his coaching staff took on arguably one of the most demanding jobs in the country. When Smith arrived, there were many things going against the Michigan State football program. Michigan State’s football team was made up of players from the previous coaching staff, which meant that a large portion of those players were unlikely to stick around and play for a new coach, no matter who the coach was.

This resulted in numerous Michigan State players entering the transfer portal at the same time. Smith and his coaching staff lost many key players to the transfer portal, including several good starters. They rebounded well and proved that few other coaches would have been as well prepared to coach the Michigan State football team as Smith.

When Smith took the job at Michigan State, he and those in charge were fully aware of the reality of rebuilding a college football program. Rebuilding a college football program as a head coach requires several years of a new coach implementing his ideals, strategies and recruiting practices to build the program the way the new coach envisions it. Although Smith’s tenure at Michigan State got off to a rocky start, he and his coaching staff have handled things well and appear to be on the right track.