The thought of pulling the plug on a second-year coach, especially a respected and established one like Jonathan Smith, seems absurd to many. But the money and expectations have never been higher in college football, including at a Michigan State program that has quickly lost all national relevancy. Smith was fired Sunday with a final record of 4-15.
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Remember, MSU has actually made the College Football Playoff, unlike programs like USC, Florida, Miami and Texas A&M. The Spartans had an AP top-10 finish as recently as 2021, when they finished 11-2 and won the Peach Bowl after awarding then-coach Mel Tucker a record contract. Even after Tucker's tenure ended in disgrace, Michigan State aggressively plucked Smith, who briefly had Oregon State in the CFP conversation in 2023, to lead its program.
But Smith's tenure started slowly last season and, after a 3-0 start to the 2025 season, veered sharply with four consecutive Big Ten losses. The concerns about Smith being a total outsider who had never coached East of Montana became magnified. The athletics director who hired Smith, Alan Haller, was fired this spring, replaced by J Batt, who had no connection to him. The circumstances changed quickly for Smith, a gifted coach who, in hindsight, would have been better off waiting for jobs like Washington and UCLA to open.
Michigan State hired Batt to improve its financial structure, which will help football climb up the Big Ten pecking order. The Spartans might not win two league titles in three years any time soon, like they did in 2013 and 2015, but they have the ingredients to be in the top half of the league and
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