Michigan State's head coach Jonathan Smith looks on from the sideline during the third quarter in the game against Rutgers on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Report: MSU's Smith Ranked Highly Among CFB Coaches Who Played

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Aidan Champion | Last updated May 27, 2025 7:00 AM ET

Many know Jonathan Smith, the coach. But there's probably a fair number of those who don't know much about Smith, the player.

The second-year Michigan State football coach had an impressive college career as a quarterback at Oregon State, where he, of course, coached for six seasons prior to coming to East Lansing.

Smith was a four-star starter for the Beavers and led them to an 11-1 season in 2000. The year prior, he led the Pac-10 in passing attempts (385), completions (188) and yards (2,784) in the regular season.

He ranks third in Oregon State history in career passing yards with 9,680 and passing touchdowns with 55.

Smith was recently given his flowers from his playing days when ESPN's Adam Rittenberg ranked him quite high in his "college football coaches as players" rankings.

In Rittenberg's "30 best" category, Smith came in at No. 7. UCLA's DeShaun Foster was the only Big Ten coach ranked ahead of him (6).

Colorado's Deion Sanders ranked above all at No. 1.

"Smith is one of the great underdog stories among current college coaches," Rittenberg wrote. "He came to Oregon State as a walk-on quarterback from Glendora, California, but took over as the Beavers' starter on Halloween 1998.

"Smith would start the final 38 games of his career, and set Oregon State records for passing yards (9,680), touchdown passes (55) and single-season passing yards (3,053 yards in 1999). He twice earned All-Pac-10 honors, twice served as captain and led Oregon State to an 11-win season and a No. 4 final AP ranking in 2000, when he earned Fiesta Bowl Offensive MVP honors in a win against Notre Dame."

Following his playing days, Smith would start his coaching career as a graduate assistant in Corvallis before going to Idaho to serve as its quarterbacks coach, a position he held for six seasons.

Smith then acted as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Montana for two seasons before going to Boise State, where he also had a two-year stint as quarterbacks coach.

He then served three seasons as Washington's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach before returning to Oregon State.

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

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