Michigan State Spartans football coach Jonathan Smith isn’t at the “lose close games and be forgiven” phase of his time in East Lansing. His first year was a bust, and his second is shaping up to be the same.
After a 23-20 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers moved MSU to 3-6 on the season and 0-6 in Big Ten play, Smith may not be around for much longer. USA Today’s Paul Myerberg believes Michigan State could look to move on from Smith to snatch up a recent coaching free agent:
Former Notre Dame Fighting Irish and LSU Tigers football coach Brian Kelly.
“Up 17-10 after a short touchdown run with just under two minutes to play, Michigan State sent the ensuing kickoff out of bounds to give Minnesota a short field, gave up the game-tying score with 29 seconds left and then lost 23-20 in overtime to drop a sixth consecutive game for the first time since 2016. The decision to replace quarterback Aidan Chiles with backup Allesio Milivojevic was a good one, as the redshirt freshman went for 311 yards and a score; this was just the Spartans’ fourth 300-yard passing game in the past four seasons. The loss casts significant doubt on coach Jonathan Smith’s chances of getting another year, especially with options such as former Notre Dame and LSU coach Brian Kelly potentially available,” Myerberg wrote.
Kelly’s firing from LSU preceded one of the wildest government tie-ins to collegiate athletics this country has ever seen. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry called out AD Scott Woodward and super agent Jimmy Sexton for Kelly’s deal. Landry said he’d rather see President Donald Trump choose an AD than Woodward right before appealing to LSU’s board to have him fired.
If Kelly wants to continue coaching, he can lower his buyout figure to Louisiana’s taxpayers while not costing his next employer nearly as much. For a program like Michigan State, whose athletic department has a history of choosing controversial hires, Kelly would be another in a long line of them.
It’s an interesting union, and one that’s probably going to be there for MSU if they wait it out with Smith over the next few weeks.
The Spartans have the Penn State Nittany Lions, Iowa Hawkeyes, and Maryland Terrapins after their upcoming bye week.