Second-year coach Jonathan Smith wants Michigan State football to be a developmental program, and he's banking on roster retention to yield results.
EAST LANSING – Jonathan Smith walked on to practice field and found Tom Izzo waiting for him.
The two Michigan State coaches – one football, one basketball – shared a quick chat on the sideline as players stretched on Tuesday, July 29. They parted ways, the football season kicking off with a blow on the whistle and the airhorn sounding to get the first official workout underway.
The Spartans are on the clock for the 2025 season – along with Western Michigan – and Smith is becoming a more familiar face on campus heading into Year 2 at the helm. Just as his team is becoming more familiar to him.
“You could tell the work that’s been done,” Smith said after Tuesday's practice, comparing MSU to last year at this time. “Bigger, faster, stronger. Guys moving around. First day, just in a helmet only, but I thought it was a really good start, and guys have progressed. …
“It felt quite a bit different. A lot cleaner. Just guys moving in the right spots. Less mistakes.”
After the firing of Mel Tucker in 2023, MSU went 5-7 in Smith’s debut 2024 season. That included an unbeaten start ended in Week 4 by a 23-19 loss at Boston College on Sept. 21 – the Eagles scored a touchdown with 88 seconds to play in a defeat that ultimately prevented MSU from making its first bowl since 2021.
It was a loss that clearly still sticks with junior starting quarterback Aidan Chiles, especially with a Week 2 rematch against Boston College – this one in East Lansing on Sept. 6 – on the schedule after MSU opens against WMU on Aug. 29.
“It’s for sure a chip on the shoulder,” Chiles said of the BC game, pausing at one point to control his emotions. “I feel like we could have won every game. We didn’t do the things that we had to do. It’s just the little things that count. I’m just excited to play them (again).”
MSU went on to drop six of seven games after the hot start, getting outscored 201-79 in the losses (including a 24-17 defeat at Michigan). The Spartans beat Iowa and Purdue at home before getting blown out again in their finale by Rutgers, 41-14.
“Our team, we could have had the ability to play in the postseason,” senior safety Malik Spencer said. “Us not doing that, that’s completely on us. We can’t really blame nobody about that. But we had the players, the team, to do something.”
After a major overhaul following the coaching change – MSU had 61 new players, including 24 transfers, entering 2024 – Smith sees more consistency and carryover in his roster entering camp this fall. Chiles and Spencer are among 25 players who started a game, and 34 lettermen, returning. They are joined by 24 inbound transfers, 10 on offense and 14 on defense, who hope to help Smith and Co. take the step back to a bowl berth for the first time since MSU went 11-2 and won the 2021 Peach Bowl to finish in the top 10 in both polls.
“There’s advantage to the more you retain to start,” Smith said. “We’ve got 70-some-odd guys that are still on the roster. We did do a heavy amount of work in January. And then you just got more time with them, you go through spring ball and all of that. And then, yes, we did have some additions – not just from the portal, but high school guys in June. And so we’re still kind of getting our first look at those guys.”
That makes the next month vital for Smitn and his staff “to do a thorough evaluation” of the newcomers as his focus on being a developmental program progresses. He added that having the roster retention and more familiarity from a year ago – both with his players and the community, including “a great person to lean on” in Izzo – has fostered a better bond and sense of comfortability heading into his second camp on campus.
“It’s an exciting time in regards to having a good amount of guys back,” he said, “but also diving into some pieces that we think are really gonna help us with our depth and competition. …
“The longer we get (with players), I believe we got a big-time coaching staff – these guys can teach and coach. So the longer the player is in the program, I’m confident they’re gonna improve.”
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football: Spartans start ahead with less roster churn
Category: General Sports
