MSU's Jonathan Smith Takes Major Ranking Drop from Last Year

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Aidan Champion | Last updated Jul 22, 2025 5:04 PM ET

Michigan State's initial hiring of Jonathan Smith was viewed with high regard at the time, and it could still age well with time.

But after just one season, the outlook is more grim.

CBS Sports/247Sports ranked Smith No. 13 among Big Ten football coaches, a six-spot drop from last year when he was ranked seventh, despite having yet coached in the conference.

"Smith joins Wisconsin's Fickell as the biggest fallers in the Big Ten coach rankings," wrote CBS Sports' Cody Nagel. "In his first season in East Lansing, Smith posted a shaky 5-7 record in 2024 -- though that's largely in line with how the Spartans have fared over the past seven years, aside from their standout 11-win campaign in 2021 under Mel Tucker."

13 may be fair, but looking back, what doesn't quite make sense is how high Smith was originally in just his first offseason at the helm.

Given what Smith was working with, what exactly were people expecting him to do in Year 1 -- with a schedule that included Ohio State, Oregon and the then-defending national champion Michigan? In hindsight, the Spartans had to face Indiana, too, though nobody was anticipating the Hoosiers to have the year they did.

Should the Spartans have made a bowl game? Yes, and they certainly had opportunities to. But anything beyond six wins would have probably been reaching a bit, especially in the first year of a new regime, with an unproven quarterback.

Smith had an impressive track record from his time at his alma mater, Oregon State, which he was able to completely turn around, but that was a different level of football, and we're seeing now that the Big Ten is arguably the best conference in the country.

It would seem the bar was simply set to high for Smith to begin with, so a significant drop isn't all that surprising.

Ahead of Smith in this latest ranking was Rutgers' Greg Schiano (No. 12), Wisconsin's Luke Fickell (No. 11), Washington's Jedd Fisch (No. 10), Nebraska's Matt Rhule (No. 9), Minnesota's P.J. Fleck (No. 8), Illinois' Bret Bielema (No. 7), Indiana's Curt Cignetti (No. 6), Iowa's Kirk Ferentz (No. 5), USC's Lincoln Riley (No. 4), Penn State's James Franklin (No. 3), Oregon's Dan Lanning (No. 2) and Ohio State's Ryan Day (No. 1).

Michigan's Sherrone Moore came in at No. 15.

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This article first appeared on Michigan State Spartans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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