Spring Practice Officially Underway for Spartans
3/19/2024 3:56:00 PM | Football
EAST LANSING, Mich. – First-year Spartan head football coach Jonathan Smith conducted his first practice at Michigan State as MSU opened spring ball on Tuesday morning inside the Duffy Daugherty Football Building.
"This is why I chose to coach, is to truly coach, and get on the field with them and watching them interact and compete and learn and grow," said Smith at his spring preview press conference on Monday. "So I'm looking forward to that part. I know that I'm going to learn from practice one to practice 15, just like we're asking them to improve one to 15."
Following practice, running back Nathan Carter, wide receiver Montorie Foster Jr., defensive lineman Maverick Hansen and cornerback Dillon Tatum met with the media to recap the first day of spring practice and what the first few months have been like under Coach Smith.
"I think Coach Smith took a great initiative on finding the right people and finding the guys that are going to be able to take this program to the next level," said Hansen, a four-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete semifinalist who is returning for his sixth season in 2024. "I think that they are implementing a great culture around here and starting from scratch. Yes, we still have a lot of guys that have been here a long time, but we're implementing things in the locker room, we're changing the locker room around, we're eating meals together, just doing things together that's building camaraderie amongst each other, and I think that's good. The coaches are all great hires. I think everyone here wants to win and wants to take this place to the next level."
The Spartans are returning 53 letterwinners from last season's team, including 21 on offense, 29 on defense and three on special teams. MSU brings back its leading rusher (Nathan Carter, 185 carries for 798 yards and four touchdowns) and receiver (Montorie Foster Jr., 43 catches for 576 yards and three TDs) on offense and its leader in tackles (Cal Haladay, 91 tackles) and interceptions (Jaden Mangham, four) on defense from last season's team.
Michigan State also welcomed 11 transfers to the team in January: QB Aidan Chiles (Oregon State), DL D'Quan Douse (Georgia Tech), DL Quindarius Dunnigan (Middle Tennessee State), DB Aveon Grose (Southern Illinois), LB Wayne Matthews III (Old Dominion), OL Tanner Miller (Oregon State), LS Kaden Schickel (James Madison), QB Tommy Schuster (North Dakota), LB Jordan Turner (Wisconsin), TE Jack Velling (Oregon State) and P Carson Voss (Western Michigan).
The midyear enrollees also included nine freshmen who signed their National Letters of Intent in December: DB Justin Denson Jr., QB Ryland Jessee, OL Charles Luniewski, OL Mercer Luniewski, WR Nick Marsh, QB Alessio Milivojevic, LB Brady Pretzlaff, DB Jaylen Thompson and RB Brandon Tullis.
Smith, who led Oregon State to new heights during his tenure over the past six seasons (2018-23), was named Michigan State University's 26th head football coach on Nov. 25, 2023. Named the 2022 Pac-12 Co-Coach of the Year, Smith built Oregon State into one of the top teams in the conference. He led the Beavers, who were ranked as high as 11th in the College Football Playoff rankings in 2023, to an 8-4 record in the regular season and their third straight bowl appearance, a first for the program since 2006-09. OSU went 25-13 in 2021-23 under Smith, including a No. 17 ranking in 2022 and a win over Florida in the Las Vegas Bowl. He also has experience coaching in the College Football Playoff as an offensive coordinator at Washington in 2016.
Six of Smith's assistants at Oregon State joined him in East Lansing: secondary coach Blue Adams, assistant head coach/running backs coach/co-special teams coordinator Keith Bhonapha, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brian Lindgren, offensive line coach/run game coordinator Jim Michalczik, defensive line coach Legi Suiaunoa and tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator Brian Wozniak. Smith also hired Joe Rossi as the program's defensive coordinator/linebackers coach, Chad Wilt as the co-special teams coordinator/rush ends coach and Demetrice Martin as the cornerbacks coach, while wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins enters his fifth season as an assistant at MSU.
Michigan State will have a new look at quarterback in 2024 with four new additions to the QB room. Sophomore Aidan Chiles, the No. 2 transfer portal quarterback in the nation according to 247Sports, gained valuable experience in a backup role at Oregon State last season, while sixth-year graduate transfer Tommy Schuster comes to East Lansing for his last season of eligibility after starting 42 games at North Dakota. MSU signed two freshmen to NLIs in December – Alessio Milivojevic and Ryland Jessee – and they both arrived on campus in January.
MSU's 15 spring practices will conclude with the Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 20 in Spartan Stadium.
"This is why I chose to coach, is to truly coach, and get on the field with them and watching them interact and compete and learn and grow," said Smith at his spring preview press conference on Monday. "So I'm looking forward to that part. I know that I'm going to learn from practice one to practice 15, just like we're asking them to improve one to 15."
Following practice, running back Nathan Carter, wide receiver Montorie Foster Jr., defensive lineman Maverick Hansen and cornerback Dillon Tatum met with the media to recap the first day of spring practice and what the first few months have been like under Coach Smith.
"I think Coach Smith took a great initiative on finding the right people and finding the guys that are going to be able to take this program to the next level," said Hansen, a four-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete semifinalist who is returning for his sixth season in 2024. "I think that they are implementing a great culture around here and starting from scratch. Yes, we still have a lot of guys that have been here a long time, but we're implementing things in the locker room, we're changing the locker room around, we're eating meals together, just doing things together that's building camaraderie amongst each other, and I think that's good. The coaches are all great hires. I think everyone here wants to win and wants to take this place to the next level."
The Spartans are returning 53 letterwinners from last season's team, including 21 on offense, 29 on defense and three on special teams. MSU brings back its leading rusher (Nathan Carter, 185 carries for 798 yards and four touchdowns) and receiver (Montorie Foster Jr., 43 catches for 576 yards and three TDs) on offense and its leader in tackles (Cal Haladay, 91 tackles) and interceptions (Jaden Mangham, four) on defense from last season's team.
Michigan State also welcomed 11 transfers to the team in January: QB Aidan Chiles (Oregon State), DL D'Quan Douse (Georgia Tech), DL Quindarius Dunnigan (Middle Tennessee State), DB Aveon Grose (Southern Illinois), LB Wayne Matthews III (Old Dominion), OL Tanner Miller (Oregon State), LS Kaden Schickel (James Madison), QB Tommy Schuster (North Dakota), LB Jordan Turner (Wisconsin), TE Jack Velling (Oregon State) and P Carson Voss (Western Michigan).
The midyear enrollees also included nine freshmen who signed their National Letters of Intent in December: DB Justin Denson Jr., QB Ryland Jessee, OL Charles Luniewski, OL Mercer Luniewski, WR Nick Marsh, QB Alessio Milivojevic, LB Brady Pretzlaff, DB Jaylen Thompson and RB Brandon Tullis.
Smith, who led Oregon State to new heights during his tenure over the past six seasons (2018-23), was named Michigan State University's 26th head football coach on Nov. 25, 2023. Named the 2022 Pac-12 Co-Coach of the Year, Smith built Oregon State into one of the top teams in the conference. He led the Beavers, who were ranked as high as 11th in the College Football Playoff rankings in 2023, to an 8-4 record in the regular season and their third straight bowl appearance, a first for the program since 2006-09. OSU went 25-13 in 2021-23 under Smith, including a No. 17 ranking in 2022 and a win over Florida in the Las Vegas Bowl. He also has experience coaching in the College Football Playoff as an offensive coordinator at Washington in 2016.
Six of Smith's assistants at Oregon State joined him in East Lansing: secondary coach Blue Adams, assistant head coach/running backs coach/co-special teams coordinator Keith Bhonapha, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brian Lindgren, offensive line coach/run game coordinator Jim Michalczik, defensive line coach Legi Suiaunoa and tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator Brian Wozniak. Smith also hired Joe Rossi as the program's defensive coordinator/linebackers coach, Chad Wilt as the co-special teams coordinator/rush ends coach and Demetrice Martin as the cornerbacks coach, while wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins enters his fifth season as an assistant at MSU.
Michigan State will have a new look at quarterback in 2024 with four new additions to the QB room. Sophomore Aidan Chiles, the No. 2 transfer portal quarterback in the nation according to 247Sports, gained valuable experience in a backup role at Oregon State last season, while sixth-year graduate transfer Tommy Schuster comes to East Lansing for his last season of eligibility after starting 42 games at North Dakota. MSU signed two freshmen to NLIs in December – Alessio Milivojevic and Ryland Jessee – and they both arrived on campus in January.
MSU's 15 spring practices will conclude with the Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 20 in Spartan Stadium.
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