Another week, another disheartening loss. Michigan State football lost its third straight game on Saturday, and this time in came in the form of a hapless effort against UCLA.
The Bruins dominated the Spartans from basically the third drive of the game on. Michigan State held an early 7-0 lead and it looked like it was just going to cruise to a win, but the Bruins were able to capture the lead later in the first quarter and then build on that to take a 24-7 advantage into the halftime locker room.
From there, it was more of the same as UCLA won 38-13, leaving Jonathan Smith with plenty of questions to answer, and he didn’t do a great job of that.
If Smith’s seat wasn’t warm before Saturday’s game, it surely is now.
Sure, the buyout is massive (over $30 million), but enough donors banding together to make a change is possible. If they do that, here’s who I think the most realistic candidates would be.
Note: These aren’t my top candidates, just who I think is currently the most realistic.
1. Alex Golesh, South Florida HC
There may not be more Group of Five juice right now than Alex Golesh. The South Florida head coach is off to an incredible start to 2025, and his Bulls are ranked in the AP Top 25 after beating No. 25 Boise State and No. 13 Florida in the first two games this season.
Golesh has some Midwest roots, graduating from Ohio State and then coaching at Toledo, Illinois, and Iowa State as a tight ends coach at each stop. He also coached at Tennessee before taking over the Bulls. This might be the most intriguing hire because he has proven he can turn a program around almost immediately.
2. Brent Key, Georgia Tech HC
I’m not sure that Brent Key would be a great fit in East Lansing since he’s from Alabama and has spent his entire coaching career down south. That doesn’t make this a guaranteed no-fit, but Key doesn’t have any Midwest ties which could negatively impact recruiting against Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State. The Spartans would also be stealing him away from his alma mater — Jonathan Smith was also poached from his alma mater.
This name keeps coming up not only because Key is having success early on, but also because he was hired by Michigan State AD J Batt when he was still in Atlanta.
3. Max Bullough, Notre Dame LB coach
You never really see non-coordinators jump right from assistant to head coach, but this move might make sense because no one knows the Michigan State football program quite like Max Bullough.
Max was a captain for the 2013 Rose Bowl team and played during the most successful post-2000 era of Spartan football. He became a star, following in his family’s footsteps — his brothers followed in his shortly after. He knows the Midwest, saw how to be a successful coach under Mark Dantonio, is rising quickly through the ranks at Notre Dame, and helped lead the Irish to the title game in 2024.
Bullough could come home and save the program. This would all depend on how much of a risk Batt wants to take if he moves on from Smith. The price tag would be affordable.
4. Brian Hartline, Ohio State OC
Is Brian Hartline holding out for the Ohio State if Ryan Day leaves for, let’s say, the NFL? It feels like that’s a possibility, and the last time the Buckeyes hired within, he ended up winning a national title.
However, the Spartans could be a nice landing spot for Hartline if he doesn’t think Day has a chance of leaving any time soon. He would likely hire a group of intriguing young coordinators who would relate to recruits and college athletes, and that could spark a new, refreshing era of Spartan football.
On top of being realistic, this feels like it has the highest ceiling of the options.
5. Jedd Fisch, Washington HC
OK, this may not be the most realistic name, but it immediately came to mind after I thought about him consistently being a candidate for different jobs every year.
Jedd Fisch is a perennial coaching candidate, and it feels like he never stays in one place long enough to even get comfortable. Now at Washington after a successful finish at Arizona, Fisch is turning the Huskies around after they lost essentially everyone after a national title game appearance two years ago. Washington is off to a 5-1 start this year and the Huskies look like contenders again.
Fisch feels like a winner, and has shown he can salvage programs, and even spent time at Michigan in 2015-16, but I’m just not sure there would be mutual interest here.