East Lansing — Michigan State’s players and coaches didn’t pull punches about how much Saturday night’s rivalry game against Michigan meant to them as individuals and as a program. But that game ended in yet another loss, the fifth straight since they entered Big Ten play.
Michigan State’s season isn’t over just yet with four games until the finish line. But it will be hard to come back from such a letdown.
Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith said that he and his team “told the truth” about the missed opportunity in Sunday’s team meeting, one that puts the path to a winning season — and the season goal of a bowl game — in further jeopardy.
“The game means a lot. We came up short,” Smith said Monday. “We talked about (how) the effort was there but we fell short in this area defensively, getting a stop here or two, didn’t convert on fourth (down). Those are all truthful, and so we own it that way.”
There may be another hard conversation lurking around the corner.
With Saturday’s loss to Michigan, Smith fell to 8-12 overall and 3-11 in Big Ten play over the course of two seasons coaching Michigan State (3-5, 0-5 Big Ten). The current losing streak is five games, and the Spartans are slim underdogs for this Saturday’s game at Minnesota (5-3, 3-2), followed by the second bye week.
Such a losing streak has magnified the pressure on Smith to succeed, losing the trust of fans and — even more important in today’s revenue share and NIL era — some donors.
Former athletic director Alan Haller hired Smith in November 2023 as a touted program builder to replace Mel Tucker, who was fired earlier that fall for sexual misconduct. Smith had taken his alma mater Oregon State from a single victory the year before he got the job in 2018 to a 34–35 record during his six-year tenure. It took him four seasons to put together a winning campaign, but the highs included the program’s third 10-win season.
Nowadays, it appears that coaches don’t get four years to show results like Smith did at Oregon State, much less in the Big Ten. LSU’s Brian Kelly became the 10th coach fired midseason on Sunday, joining the likes of Penn State’s James Franklin, Florida’s Billy Napier and Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy.
Smith is feeling similar pressure to win in just his second year, a sped up clock he could hardly see coming when he came to East Lansing in 2023.
“I think it continues to change, call it, over the last even year or two, in this NIL era, things like that,” Smith said. “I was and continue to be excited about playing in what I think is the best conference in college football. But what comes with that? It’s competitive, it is hard. Nothing’s given or is easy. And so we’re in the midst of doing that right now.”
Given that landscape, Smith has gotten public support from the de facto spokesperson of Michigan State: basketball coach Tom Izzo.
Stumping for Smith on his weekly radio show Wednesday, Izzo pointed to his own tenure, when a lack of results in Year 3 of his tenure had fans ready to move on. In his 31st season as Michigan State coach, Izzo is now the Big Ten’s winningest men’s basketball coach, with 11 Big Ten championships, a national championship and eight Final Fours to his name.
“I did it in an era that was normal. This era is not normal to try to rebuild the program,” Izzo said. “Everybody thinks because of the portal it’s easier. I told Jonathan this morning until you get your culture right, it doesn’t matter who you bring in. It’s hard.”
It takes more than a coach to win in today’s college football landscape. Ohio State spent $20 million on its national championship roster last season, according to ESPN, and revenue share has added a pot of money from more official channels.
The product at Spartan Stadium leaves much to be desired for Michigan State fans, but so does the athletic department’s budget. In June’s operating budget approved by the Michigan State Board of Trustees, the athletic department took a more than $12 million internal loan to cover revenue share. And as of Monday, it’s cutting projects, including the proposed $150 million athletics venue as part of the Spartan Gateway project.
Asked about the resources he had available to build this year’s team, Smith danced around the question. He angled the question toward the lack of transparency in the sport, which makes comparisons between programs difficult.
“You don’t totally know what’s big enough, what’s not,” Smith said. “You hear things, this and that. I do feel like I like this group that we’ve got together, the way they work and are going. And the more transparency, I do think, is better for college football.”
There is evident pressure on Smith to succeed, and it may be too late for him to rally his own job security from the lows of the current losing streak. Smith didn’t speak to his job status Monday, but he did say he and athletic director J Batt have continued their weekly meetings this season.
“We’ve had conversations on areas where we’ve gotta continue to find improvements,” Smith said. “So those conversations are pretty consistent.”
And though Izzo’s endorsement is worth a whole lot around MSU, Smith’s lack of public support can be felt. Unlike Luke Fickell at Wisconsin, there has been no statement of support from Smith’s athletic director, Batt. And few have hitched their wagon to his eventual success. Asked if he feels like he has people in his corner at Michigan State, Smith said he gets text messages, but didn’t list anything further.
“Having said, I love being in a place that is competitive,” Smith said. “Wants to get things right, wants to come out on the right side of the scoreboard. And that’s where we’re at right now.”
Even as the pressure bears down on him, and the financial side of the sports world creeps into the formerly “amateur” college ranks, Smith still values the principles of his profession.
“I still think there’s some beauty in coaching that doesn’t change,” Smith said. “In regards to growth, the competition, repurposing this game of football to add value to these guys’ life of going through hard times, finding success. I still think there’s beauty in such a large … diverse group coming together for a common goal and then going through good ups and downs and that life experience adding benefit to their long term life. … So there’s still a lot of beauty there in coaching this game.”
Injury report
Michigan State might be down a few key players as it tries to stop its losing streak at Minnesota.
Smith said that left tackle Stanton Ramil and Jordan Hall will be evaluated toward the end of the week for the injuries they sustained in Saturday’s loss to Michigan. Defensive tackle Ben Roberts is doubtful.
Ramil came back from an earlier injury suffered in Week 4 against Southern Cal and evidently played through pain, missing drives and trying to warm up on the sideline to return to the game. There’s a marked difference between the offensive line with and without him, and his loss would be a big one.
“Couldn’t go as full speed as he wanted to early in that game,” Smith said. “We’ll kind of see what this thing looks like by the end of the week.”
Hall missed much of the third quarter getting X-rays off the field, but he returned to finish the game and made a team-high nine tackles.
Roberts left the game in the first quarter, holding his leg after a play and punching the ground in frustration. According to the NBC broadcast, he spent a long time in the medical tent being evaluated before leaving it on crutches.
One more player is out for the Spartans, Safety Justin Denson Jr. missed Saturday’s game for a personal reason.
“He’s working with some things outside football right now,” Smith said.
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