Michigan State football firing Jonathan Smith after 2 seasons
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
Jonathan Smith’s short time as Michigan State football coach is over.
New Michigan State athletic director J Batt fired Smith on Sunday, Nov. 30, a person with knowledge of the decision who couldn’t speak publicly because it’s not official told the Free Press. The decision comes a day after MSU (4-8, 1-8 Big Ten) ended an eight-game losing streak with a 38-28 win over Maryland in Detroit.
The 46-year-old Smith went 9-15 overall and 4-14 against Big Ten opponents in two seasons after being hired away from Oregon State on Nov. 25, 2023. He replaced Mel Tucker, who was fired midseason in 2023.
MSU’s five wins in 2024 in Smith’s first year, along with nine wins in 2022-23, were vacated due to NCAA violations.
Jonathan Smith buyout at MSU
Smith, who signed a seven-year contract worth nearly $53 million when he was hired, is due to receive 85% of his remaining base pay and supplemental income. MSU owes him approximately $33.5 million of the $39 million-plus remaining on the deal, plus three months of continuing health care benefits.
MSU football roster and transfer portal rules
A new NCAA rule enacted and put into effect in early October shortens and delays the ability for athletes to leave MSU after Smith’s firing. Players now will have a 15-day window to enter the transfer portal, but they cannot do so until five days after a new permanent head coach is hired or publicly announced by the school. Previously, athletes had a 30-day window that opened immediately after a coach was fired.
Why did MSU fire Jonathan Smith?
The Spartans went 5-7 during Smith’s first season, missing the postseason for a third straight season after a late collapse at Boston College and a blowout loss in the home finale against Rutgers with a bowl berth on the line.
MSU opened this season 3-0, with Smith becoming the first coach in school history to do that in back-to-back seasons, but his team lost competitive road games at USC and Nebraska to begin Big Ten play, then got blown out during homecoming on Oct. 11 by a UCLA team that started the season 0-4 and fired its coach, DeShaun Foster, a few weeks earlier.
A native of Pasadena, California, Smith took a marked shift away from the flash and glitz Tucker implemented during his 3½ years after replacing Mark Dantonio in February 2020. Gone were the pitbulls and sports cars on official visits, replaced by the more buttoned-down temperament and persona of a former Oregon State star who went from a walk-on to a starting quarterback over three-plus seasons from 1997-2001.
MSU paid a $3 million buyout to pry Smith from his alma mater, where he went 34-34 in six seasons as the Beavers’ head coach from 2017-23. He became just the third coach since Clarence “Biggie” Munn was hired from Syracuse in 1947 who had neither coached or played at the East Lansing school. (The others were Darryl Rogers in 1976 and the similarly named John. L. Smith in 2003, though the two Smiths are not related.)
In returning to Oregon State as coach for the 2018 season, Jonathan Smith inherited a team which had been 7-29 the previous three years and then went 9-22 over his first three seasons. In 2021, Smith directed the Beavers to a 7-6 finish and their first bowl berth since 2013. They went 10-3 the following year and beat Florida in the Las Vegas Bowl, then went 8-4 in 2023. Smith took the MSU job before Oregon State’s bowl game.
Tucker was fired over alleged sexual improprieties during an April 2022 phone call. MSU continues to battle with Tucker in court over the remaining $80 million of the 10-year, $95-million contract extension he signed in November 2021, which did not include a buyout. The athletic director at the time, Alan Haller, fired Tucker for cause Sept. 27, 2023.
Smith is owed $31 million in base pay, along with more than $8 million in supplemental income for marketing and media participation; shoe, equipment and apparel deals; and university-required appearances. The total amount due from MSU would be mitigated if Smith accepts another job. Smith is required by his contract to use his “best efforts to actively seek and obtain comparable employment as an NFL or Division I coach” but is not required to accept any position if it is not in his best career interest. If Smith accepts a new position that pays less than the MSU job, the school could pay him the difference either as a lump sum or through reduced monthly payments.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jonathan Smith fired after two seasons with Michigan State
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos