Jonathan Smith Signing Day Press Conference Coverage

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State head football coach Jonathan Smith held a press conference inside the Spartan Stadium North End Zone Media Center on Wednesday to talk about his first Spartan recruiting class.

Michigan State signed 18 players to a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period.

Michigan State football head coach Johnathan Smith early signing day press conference transcript:

Opening statement…
Always an exciting day, signing day. The first one here at Michigan State, a lot of work went into it. I want to thank the recruiting staff, things have been moving fast, really impressed with the coordination and the work ethic, I can't thank this staff enough.

Really excited about the group we got signed up and looking forward to building this roster over the next few months and even going in the summer, this a great, great start.

I want to talk about how we got here. Three weeks ago, I arrived and was excited to meet the team, had my first team meeting that Monday and dove into the current roster, trying to grow some relationships there, learn what we have on the roster positionally and age wise. That mindset hasn't changed in the last three weeks. First day, I was able to get out on the road with coaches and travel through the greater area of Detroit. A bunch of good-looking players, enjoyed meeting high school coaches around that city, Nick Marsh on day one being able to see him, and meet his mom. That's how we attacked the first day, that Friday out.

Then the next week it was still back to the current roster, meeting individually with our current roster, getting to know them, then traveled late afternoon and evenings for home visits throughout that first week. All at the same time trying to hire a defensive coordinator, I brought six coaches over here with me that I have deep trust and knowledge of, but a huge piece of this was the defensive coordinator, a lot of phone calls, talked to a lot of people interested in the job, continued to circle back to Joe Rossi. I couldn't be more excited adding him in the middle of this process through three weeks, then he dove right into it on the recruiting side and helping us get to the finish line.

Had huge weekends, only had two total, but at the last one we were close to 20 guys rolling through in a three-day span, going back again to thanking the staff and their approach going through this. On this signing class we are heavy on high school side, which is going to be an emphasis for us, starting up front, the offensive line is well represented in this crew, important to get a couple of quarterbacks, it feels awesome about Alessio (Milivojevic) and Ryland (Jessee) coming on board, continue to build on the secondary side and we're not done.

This landscape of college football, you can add to your roster 365 days a year, we're in the mix of the portal being open and so there is opportunities there as well, visits early in January, we have a second signing day in February, the same time the portal will open to the end of April, feel confident and continue to add to the roster throughout the year. Back to this day, first day starting, signing day feels awesome about this group of young men we are bringing in.

On the importance of getting commits in an empty quarterback room…
We did at one point of time had no one on scholarship in that room. I want to flip that perspective as a great opportunity to recruit, you're trying to draw quarterbacks and when no one is in the room, that's attractive to players. We are going to be adding through the transfer portal, that is a key piece to that position, really excited about the two guys that we're adding in Alessio and Ryland. Ryland we've known longer, we been recruiting Ryland for a long time. Alessio, coach Lindgren got out to the school and the house, got to meet him and the family, they were on visits, and are great people. We feel both of those guys can play at a high level and both will be here in January.

Challenges on relocating and recruiting at the same time…
You know, it's the challenge that we were diving into and navigating, doing our best, again it started with the idea you're trying to recruit and retain your current roster, so not completely detaching from those guys. I spoke to the team that way, wasn't just go to eight different high schools in a day when there's good players here and making sure they at least hear the vision and feel comfortable with that. Then you're trying to add to the roster through recruiting. The hiring piece was going to be deliberate on that, it's about the fit, expertise, but the type of man you're going to add to the staff, that was all part of the process in the last three weeks.

Did he accept players were going to transfer after the first meeting…
We understood the situation those guys been through recently, that's the landscape now of college football, they can explore options. I think it was painted pretty clear to them, if you go into the portal, it's my responsibility to actively work to replace them, so we continued to recruit some of them and they came back, I think we've done a good job at it.

On how he blended the previous commits and players he recruited from the previous place…
I think we blended it very well. Yes, there were current guys who were committed to the place before we arrived, we have dived into those guys and communicate the vision, evaluate that the fit is right on both sides, which it was. At the same time, we had some deep-rooted relationships with previous players that were committed elsewhere, got them out here on campus to see the environment and landed those guys.

On selling West Coast players to come out to Michigan State…
It's different, but there's a lot to sell here. What attracted me for this job is what's attracting the recruits.

How much communication he had with previous staff and the commits and will Harlon (Barnett) be on staff…
There are a lot of people still in the building that have been here previously, so getting background information about a particular recruit. A lot of what was previously sold Michigan State wise is still here, you talk about the education, facility, conference, people around the place, that was pretty consistent. On Harlon's end he has been helpful as well, met with him now a couple of times just getting the landscape and his approach. Yet to be determined on Harlon, he has opportunities for options, and we'll see where it lands.

On his philosophy with the NIL…
Regarding NIL, the resources and opportunities are really good. I've learned more and more of what that all is (here at Michigan State). We had approaches at Oregon State that are going to be similar here, not just in the NIL space but offense, defense, schematically, how we evaluate, develop players around here, there'll be some similarities.

On recruiting in Ohio…
That is a big area, a lot of good players, a lot of good high school coaches. I'm not trying to claim I'm the expert yet, but our intention will be to use these months to get around those high school coaches.

What stood out about Nick Marsh…
From the get-go, you're talking about a good young man, humble, talked about his teammates, well-spoken, really loved Michigan State for a while, understanding his values, he helped us recruit at the same time, so he's been a great teammate that way, met his mom and she has been helpful in the recruiting process as well.

How did the vision solidify since he's been here…
Opportunity for a fresh start, got a proven track record of doing things in a certain way. I think Michigan State sells itself so much beyond the facility upgrades, the education opportunities, academic support, support from a fanbase that is passionate so there is a lot to sell.

On the last two coaching spots…
Kind of fluid on those last two spots and just thinking through, again getting coach Rossi to get his vision to finalize the defensive side, offense got to answer the special team side, we'll kind of see. Not going to rush on those decisions, making sure the person fits on both sides, then the certain set up to finalize the defense and special teams, we're sorting that out.

On how much he learned about MSU history with Hawaiian players…
I learned a little, both players coming over from Hawaii, we've known deeply for a long time. We're all in on diversity, love to start inside out location wise, but we're going to go wherever we need to find players.

On the two styles of running backs from the signing class…
We love running backs that have some versatility. Both Brandon (Tullis) and Makhi (Frazier) have some physicality to them that stands out. Good high school players, especially at running back, had capabilities playing some defense at the high school level, but currently the plan is for them to carry the ball.

On how he pitched to players coming in its going to be a learning process…
The guys who are arriving in January, they're on the ground level of learning schemes in all three phases offense, defense, and special teams. Everyone in the locker room is starting at the same level, it's about building something, again we're not trying to be overly patient, we're trying to build something quick and be competitive this fall.

On what he saw in Wyatt Hook…
Wyatt we've known for a while, he's physical but is athletic, can catch the ball. Size wise he's what we're looking for in height and weight, the background we had offensively at the tight end spot, we felt was a perfect fit.

On players reaction when visiting Michigan State…
They were excited about it, seeing the facility, they knew the people, obviously, but just the environment, location, stadium, learning more about the school, and the academic support is phenomenal here, they responded very well.

On how it's been to finally walk around campus and attending sporting events…
That's been fun the basketball and hockey games, I plan on getting to more and more when it somewhat slows down for me. I want to thank the welcome that people around here have been, I'm eager to get to more and more events.

On his impressions of the Luniewski twins…
Physical, athletic at the line of scrimmage, both got some great personalities, tied at the hip, they also were part of helping us recruit. Getting to know them at a personal level, I'm excited for them to join us.

On the importance of high school recruiting and is it a priority…
Yeah, 100 percent. We want to be a place of development, the longer you have a player to develop, the better and better they're going to get. Not saying we're going to be exclusive to the high school ranks but managing your roster you can add through high school, the portal, develop walk-ons, we still want to be core about high school.

On current roster players who been helping recruit…
The first weekend we had visitors the current players were helping, that is a big benefit. I think one of biggest pieces in recruiting is your current roster, they keep it real on their experience and how it's going. I appreciate the guys giving effort not just on campus but social media as well.

On timing of the college football calendar with December being busy with coaching changes, early signing day and transfer portal…
I don't know what's fair. It's not ideal, I know that. And that's not just specific to our set up here at Michigan State being here three weeks, I just think there is a lot going on in one month in regard to coaching changes, the portal being open really throughout the month, early signing date, people making decisions on early signing date when the portal is still open. There seems like there's a better avenue recipe calendar wise, I'm not saying I know it, but there's just a lot going on this month.

On the importance of getting the early enrollees on campus…
Yeah, it's huge anytime you can start as fast as possible. So, the guys that are arriving in January getting acclimated getting into the weight room, obviously learning their side of the ball schematics-wise, learning their teammates, so it's huge to have a good number and we will have a good number of them here in January.

On anticipating retaining players that are in the portal…
Yep, to be determined. We're definitely aggressively trying to retain a few, not all but a few. Again, in this day and age, they've got that option and we'll see where that lands.

On does he have to sell himself individually more than the program in his first year…
That's a good question. Probably 50-50 in regard to, yeah, you got to sell yourself a vision of what you want this thing to look like, the longer it goes, you've got a background of being in the program and they've gotten an idea of what the identity is. I go back to the point that there's a lot to sell about Michigan State, Michigan State football, the fan base, athletics in general. So about 50-50.

On if he feels he exceeded expectations for putting together this class in a short span…
It probably exceeds right now. I'm thinking about that first week on what we had to undertake here. We are not done, I mean, this thing is a start; we're really excited about where we started. But you can add to your roster over the next six, eight months and we plan to do it.

On if he anticipates adding decent talent still available for the February signing day class and is there any specific positions…
I think there will be and we're going to uncover the rocks and dig into it and that kind of thing. So, we'll see I don't anticipate in anticipate being this big, this many numbers but we're definitely looking. You know, again, we'll get into how this portal closes and see where we're at and we'll be able to identify our needs from there.

On his thoughts about Ryland (Jessee) and Alessio (Milivojevic) as prospects…
Again, Ryland we have known for a longer time. He's athletic, can throw it, we've seen him a couple of times when we were chasing him at Oregon State for a while, built a relationship, and a football family. Alessio, getting to know him more over the last two weeks, on tape this guy can make throws down the field, which we want to do on offense. I think the guy is a football nut, studies it, knows it inside and out, great family when they were here for the weekend. So, we're really excited about both of them.

Does he have a rigid framework for a quarterback or do they come in all shape and sizes…
They can come in all shapes and sizes. Size does help. I try to simplify it down to this, we're looking for a shortstop. I mean, in regards to his skill-set, movement wise, can make plays in the hole but may still make that big time throw, we're not looking for a third baseman, but they've got to be able to play that side of the field to throw it.

On what was the decision to keep (wide receivers coach) Courtney Hawkins and what he meant to this staff…
I enjoyed getting to know him, he's deeply passionate about this place, he's got a track record of playing this game at the highest-level developing talent, and I love the idea that he'd spent some time at the high school ranks and what he did for that school in that community. Learning that story was really fun and impressive to hear. So really excited that he's on board.

On if there's a spring calendar or is it too early and if he hopes to have a spring game…
Not defined. Targeted around starting mid-March and go from there. We'll see what this roster looks like, we've definitely got some work to do in the spring and we're looking forward to that.

On how he balances the pressure to rebuild quickly but knowing it takes time…
You know, I think we want to be consistent. And again, we're going to aggressively attack to develop and through development, these guys playing the best football they can and I'm excited about the opportunities with this roster what it will look like come this summer confident that we'll put a really competitive product out there and not overly patient in regards to not we're not just casually going into a mindset of like okay, 'year three, we'll get this thing going.' We want to be consistent in our approach.

Related News

Related Videos