Jonathan Smith Has Long History of Program Building and Sustaining Success
12/1/2023 2:53:00 PM | Football
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If you follow along the trail of Jonathan Smith's playing and coaching career, a pattern emerges.
Initial hurdles are in place that look daunting, but eventually they are overcome by a strong work ethic and perseverance, and ultimately, a path to success emerges. It's not the quickest way. Not the easiest way. But the way itself is the guiding principle that leads to sustainability and developing a program.
"We are going to be process oriented," said Smith at his introductory press conference, a celebratory affair held before Spartan supporters, athletics staff, and media from around the state of Michigan that was also televised live on the Big Ten Network. "And this takes a minute. We stick to a process January all the way through December, you stick to a process Sunday to Saturday. You stick to a process at the start of practice, at the end of practice. I felt Michigan State fit that and allowed for a lot of that."
Michigan State Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Alan Haller met with stakeholders throughout the coaching search and developed the main criteria for the candidate.
"They wanted a man of character, someone who can build authentic relationships, and cares about their players on and off the field," said Haller. "They wanted someone who will be committed to building something special, recruiting student-athletes and build them into players and people. They wanted someone who would engage the community and not motivating only the student-athletes but the greater community, fanbase, and program stakeholders. They wanted a coach with a proven track record, experience coaching in big games, coaching at the power five level, and with a vision for what's required to have success at MSU.
"Finally, in my conversations with the football student-athletes and alums, they stressed the importance of someone who believes that football should be tough, physical, and innovative. Tough physical football has always been a part of Spartan football."
After Smith and his family landed in Lansing amidst snowfall last Sunday afternoon, a day following his official acceptance of the Spartan head coaching position, he took a quick tour of the Spartan football facilities, then had a dinner that included Haller and Hall of Fame men's basketball coach Tom Izzo.
"I sat next to them," said Haller, "and I listened to their conversation with a smile on my face – knowing we got the right guy."
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The 44-year-old Smith always wanted to be a football coach, falling in love with the game during his high school playing days as a quarterback in southern California at Glendora High while growing up in the shadow of the Rose Bowl. It was his cerebral nature that landed him a walk-on opportunity at Oregon State in 1997, where he figured he could learn at the highest level of the sport.
Although the Beavers had posted 26 consecutive losing seasons when Smith arrived in Corvallis as a true freshman, he was also coming in with a new head coach, Mike Riley, who had been a successful offensive coordinator at USC. And the quarterback coach was Paul Chryst, who would eventually be the head coach at Pitt and Wisconsin. There was promise of brighter days ahead.
After another losing season in 1997, not much was expected from the Beavers – or Smith – in 1998. Following a year on the scout team, he was third on the depth chart during spring practice for a team that hadn't posted a winning season since 1970.
But out of nowhere in the middle of the fall, the walk-on from Pasadena came off the bench in the second quarter at Washington on Oct. 24, and promptly set a school and Husky Stadium record with 469 passing yards, sparking a furious second-half rally. He threw an 80-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Then a 90-yarder midway through the fourth quarter that made a previous 21-point deficit suddenly a one-score game.
Down 35-28 with 30 seconds left, he led the Beavers 78 yards on seven plays with no timeouts, firing a 33-yard touchdown pass as time expired. The 2-point conversion failed, but from that moment in Seattle, Smith had proven he belonged.
"I have learned not to be surprised by Jonathan," said Riley after the game. "From the time he was here last fall, he's always gone into practice and performed."
And what he did from there was nothing short of a miracle. The 5-foot-10, 180-pounder took the reins of the starting quarterback job and didn't let go for 38 games, and along the way, he provided Oregon State with some magical moments.
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Jonathan Smith (right), standing alongside former Oregon State head coach Dennis Erickson, was named the 2001 Fiesta Bowl offensive MVP. (Photo courtesy of Fiesta Bowl/SuperWest Sports)
He helped beat No. 15 Oregon in overtime, 44-41, in his first start against the rival Ducks to close out his redshirt freshman season. As a redshirt sophomore under new head coach Dennis Erickson in 1999, the Beavers went 7-5 and earned a berth in a bowl game (Oahu Bowl) for the first time since 1964. And in 2000, he guided Oregon State to its best season in school history, winning 11 games and finishing No. 4 in the national polls following a 41-7 thrashing of Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl while setting a school record with 20 touchdown passes.
The two-time captain closed his career as Oregon State's all-time leader in passing yards (9,680), touchdown passes (55) and single-season passing yards (3,053). All from a former walk-on that just wanted to learn the game.
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Following graduation, it was time to learn some more. He took a graduate assistant position on offense under Erickson, then another year under Riley in 2003.
Smith's first full-time coaching role came at Idaho leading the quarterbacks, where he spent six seasons diving into all aspects of the profession, including one key element that he has grasped during his career: transition. Under his third head coach and final year at Idaho in 2009, Smith and the Vandals won eight games and reached a bowl – just the second in program history – as the team ranked ninth in the nation for total offense (451.4 yards per game), 12th for passing offense (286.7 yards per game) and 20th in scoring (32.7 points per game).
He had a chance to call plays for the first time in his career as the offensive coordinator at Montana – a powerhouse at the FCS level – for two seasons, including a trip to the FCS semifinals in 2011, where his offense once again ranked among the national leaders in several categories.
Once again, it was time for Smith to move on, this time to a job at the FBS level as the quarterbacks coach at Boise State under Chris Petersen, who had by that point in 2012 already made the Broncos a perennial power. Smith's first game coaching at BSU was ironically enough in East Lansing in a primetime Friday night game on Labor Day Weekend between two nationally ranked teams, a 17-13 victory for the Spartans behind Le'Veon Bell's 210 yards rushing.
"I remember that crowd, that atmosphere, that passion around the fan base – I'm ready to be on the other sideline," the new Spartan head coach recalled the day after his hiring.
Smith established a connection with Petersen during his two seasons in Boise, and that trust with one of the game's most respected coaches earned the then 35-year old a spot on Petersen's staff as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Washington. Â
Although UW had posted moderate success in the few years prior to Petersen's arrival on the shores of Lake Washington, the program took a jump into the national spotlight during his tenure.
"(I) learned a ton from those four years," remarked Smith of his time in Seattle. "After a couple of years of transition, building our culture, in our third year we went to the College Football Playoff."
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As the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Washington under Chris Petersen, Jonathan Smith and the Huskies won the 2016 Pac-12 Championship and advanced to the College Football Playoff.
The Huskies won the Pac-12 title in 2016 and Smith had reached the pinnacle of the sport, the College Football Playoff, matching up against Nick Saban and Alabama in the Peach Bowl. Under Smith's mentorship, UW quarterback Jake Browning set a school record with 43 touchdown passes and was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year. Washington then recorded 10 victories the next season and advanced to their second straight New Year's Six bowl game with an appearance in the Fiesta Bowl.
It was now time for the ultimate test – leading from the top. Or, as Smith put it, "taking on this idea of being a head coach."
He got that opportunity first at his alma mater, Oregon State.
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Smith had already resurrected the Beaver program once as a player. His encore performance would have to start right back at the beginning, just like the first time around.
OSU was coming off four consecutive losing campaigns, including a 1-11 mark in 2017 and a winless record in the Pac-12.
So Smith did the only thing he knew how to do – get right to work.
"The place was not having a ton of success, had some turmoil, different things going on and was excited about diving into it," said Smith. "Learning the players, changing the culture, creating a space where people could do their best work, and we dove into it."
It did take some time, but the program slowly started its ascension up the conference standings, from 2-10 in year one to a near bowl-game appearance, a 5-7 record and four wins in Pac-12 play in year two.
After a 2-5 showing during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the Beavers started their run of three straight winning seasons with a breakthrough 7-5 record in the regular season in 2021 and a berth in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Live Bowl. Smith's offense was the key to the resurgence, setting a program record with 6.4 yards per play while averaging 31.2 points per game and gaining 5,581 total yards. OSU won five league game for the first time in nine years, including victories at USC and home wins over Washington, Utah, Stanford and Arizona State.
The ingredients were now in place for another step in 2022, and Oregon State delivered with its first 10-win since 2006 and only its third in school history. Naturally, Smith was a part of two of those teams. The Beavers tied a school record with six wins in Pac-12 play, capped by a 38-34 thrilling comeback over No. 10 Oregon in the regular-season finale in which OSU trailed by 17 points in the fourth quarter.
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Jonathan Smith gets showered with Gatorade following Oregon State's 17-point comeback win over No. 10 Oregon in the 2022 regular-season finale. (Photo by Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports)
Smith, who was named the Pac-12 Co-Coach of the Year, won his first bowl game as a head coach with a dominant 30-3 victory over Florida in the Las Vegas Bowl as Oregon State finished No. 17 in the AP Poll, the highest finish for the program since his playing days as a Beaver QB in 2000.
Entering camp in August ranked in the preseason Top 25 for the first time in 10 years, Oregon State continued its sustainability as a program in 2023, winning eight games while being ranked all season long. The Beavers started out 8-2 to reach No. 10 in the AP Poll, before falling to back-to-back top-five teams in Washington and Oregon. Offensively, the Beavers averaged 33.8 points per game, good for fourth in the Pac-12 and 28th in the FBS, and featured semifinalists for both the Doak Walker Award in Damien Martinez, the second-leading rusher in the Pac-12, and the Outland Trophy in tackle Taliese Fuaga, a widely projected top NFL Draft pick.
The physicality of Smith's teams has been evident at the line of scrimmage. Up front, the offensive line has been named a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award two of the past three seasons, and the defense has ranked in the top-15 nationally the last two years in rushing defense.
Smith credits the consistency of his coaching staff and player development as the building blocks for Oregon State's success over his last three seasons in Corvallis, which featured a 25-13 record and what will be three consecutive bowl appearances.
It's a formula he believes will also work in East Lansing.
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Smith's coaching career, which has now spanned more than 20 years since his days as GA at his alma mater, all led to a sunny day on Tuesday, Nov. 28 in which he was introduced as Michigan State's 26th head football coach in the Tom Izzo Hall of History inside the Breslin Center.
The bright midday light bursting through the windows shined right on Smith as he spoke onstage of his vision of the Spartan football program.
"Let me tell you a little bit why I was so excited about Michigan State," said Smith. "I think again, we go back to this fit. Let's talk schematics. We want to make a physical brand of football on both sides of the ball, at the same time, it will lead to an innovative offense…we're going to take a chance once in a while. Make it physical, create explosive plays. Defensively, make it hard on the offense, not just by the physicality we play with, but with the schematics on that end.
"I think Michigan State's a place where you can develop. Diving into the team meeting (Monday), we were diving into the idea of being a program. A program of substance on and off the field, a program of where we're going to dive into lives and beyond, not just teach them how to be able to go into the deep third in coverage or run a 15-yard in-route. We want to be a place of substance on and off the field."
He said all of this as the two winningest coaches in Michigan State football and men's basketball history – Mark Dantonio and Tom Izzo – looked on from the crowd, both of whom share the same philosophy on the importance of being a blue-collar, physical team.
"Low ego, high output," said Smith, when asked about any of his catchphrases. "Selfless – I think football is the ultimate team game."
He also shares the values that Haller seeks in being part of the community. Smith listed "the family piece, the community network, a passionate fanbase, the opportunity to win, the resources available to win, the community that is invested to win" on what made Michigan State stand out. "I felt all of that was here," he said.
Not much longer after that statement, his wife Candice and three kids, Robert, Bella and Charles, joined him onstage while holding up a No. 26 Spartan jersey with the last name "Smith" stitched on the nameplate. Earlier in his introduction, Smith got emotional when discussing his family.
"I want to chase championships at the highest level, but at the same time create an atmosphere for my family to be special," he remarked while looking at his family. "That's where I go back to this fit. I appreciate you guys, Candice, Robert, Bella and Charles, for coming along and believing in this ride that we're undertaking, so thank you."
The people that know Smith best in the profession are also excited for his future in East Lansing.
"Michigan State has hired an excellent football coach," said Petersen, who is now a FOX Sports college football analyst. "I have no doubt he will build something special in East Lansing that all of Spartan Nation will be proud of."
Later that night after his press conference, Smith was introduced to a rousing ovation during a timeout at the men's basketball game, and spoke to the Spartan faithful while wearing a green pullover with the Gruff Sparty mascot on the front.
"I want to thank you again for the warm welcome," he concluded. "We've got some work to do, and I'm ready to go dive in and do that. Thank you and Go Green!"
The Jonathan Smith era is officially underway in East Lansing. And kickoff for the 2024 season on Aug. 31 vs. Florida Atlantic in Spartan Stadium can't arrive soon enough. In between, Smith will stick to his process, one that has been built on a foundation of connection, relationships and development, devoid of shortcuts, and rooted in hard work.
Story written by Ben Phlegar. Michigan State photos by Matthew Mitchell and Rey Del Rio.
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Jonathan Smith waves to Spartan fans at the Breslin Center after being introduced on Tuesday night at the men's basketball game.
