Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith talks the media on the first national signing day for college football recruits Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

MSU's Smith's Recruiting Success is Unprecedented

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Tom Cavanaugh | Last updated Jun 23, 2025 10:31 AM ET

What Michigan State Spartans coach Jonathan Smith has done over the past month on the recruiting trail is something that this program has not witnessed in quite some time, arguably unprecedented. Smith is turning heads but also turning this program back into a powerhouse.

15 prospects have announced commitments to Michigan State in the month of June alone, let that sink in. In just over three weeks, he has nabbed 13 three-star recruits and a pair of four-stars as well for the 2026 class.

Smith has helped earn the Spartans the No. 24 overall '26 recruiting class in the country, per 247Sports, and has also beaten out some of the top SEC programs for multiple recruits from across the country. In due time, this team is going to rise from the ashes and become great again.

After three straight grueling seasons of sub .500 football, Smith enters last year with growing pains and a roster full of guys that he did not recruit, minus the coaches and select transfers that came over with him from Oregon State. He is now sinking his teeth into this program and succeeding.

Michigan State has not had this type of recruiting success since Mark Dantonio was at the helm, earning three and four-star commitments from all across the nation, helping lead his teams to multiple New Years Six bowl wins and a College Football Playoff appearance.

There is not reason to believe that Smith cannot accomplish the same or better.

Obviously, these prospects still have to perform on the field, but what this recruiting staff has been able to do to put MSU in a position to be successful is how winning begins. Yes, the transfer portal is valuable and the Spartans will be better this year because of it, but recruiting is where it all starts.

You can expect more commitments from more elite prospects over the coming weeks due to the hot hand that Smith and his staff have had. Recruits talk to each other, they want to be a part of something special, and the uncommitted ones are taking note of it.

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