Michigan State's head coach Jonathan Smith looks on during the third quarter in the game against Purdue on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Report: Where MSU's Smith Sits Among Power-Four CFB Coaches

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Aidan Champion | Last updated May 22, 2025 11:00 AM ET

Jonathan Smith's first season at Michigan State wasn't ideal, but in the first year of an 18-team Big Ten that saw five of its teams make the College Football Playoff, it wasn't anything too surprising.

But the national outlook on Smith isn't too promising. In CBS Sports' 2025 spring ranking of Power-Four college football head coaches, the second-year Spartans coach dropped immensely from where he was last year.

Smith came in at No. 49, even ranked ahead of rival coach Sherrone Moore (58).

CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli felt Smith deserved some grace.

"Only one coach fell further in the rankings this year than Smith," Fornelli wrote. "He began his tenure with the Spartans ranked 27th based on the success he had at Oregon State, but he stumbled to a 5-7 debut with his new squad.

"Personally, I feel this punishment is extremely harsh -- 5-7 isn't a huge letdown based on expectations -- but clearly my fellow voters felt otherwise. I'm fine being the high vote on Smith, though."

When Smith became head coach at Oregon State, his alma mater, he was taking over a team that had won only a single game the year before. The Beavers would improve by just one win in his first season at the helm.

By the end of his tenure, Smith had led Oregon State to three straight bowl berths (he had already departed prior to the team's appearance in the 2023 Sun Bowl). The run included a 10-win season in 2022; the Beavers finished the season 17th in the final AP Poll.

The expectation is that Smith turns things around for Michigan State, just as he did in Corvallis. But he's in arguably the best conference in all of college football, and the world of college athletics is different from what it was during his rise at Oregon State.

Nonetheless, excuses aren't accepted, especially for a fan base deprived of a winning program that hasn't made a bowl game since 2021.

Smith will be expected to lead the Spartans to a bowl game this coming season, and that's the bare minimum. If he does that, perhaps experts will start to see a path where he finds the same level of success he did at 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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