Another early signing day is in the books and, all things considered, Michigan State and Jonathan Smith knocked this one out of the park.
After going 5-7 in his first season as head coach of the Spartans and losing Demetrice Martin to UCLA, LaRue Zamorano to a decommitment, and Jace Clarizio to Alabama last week, Smith looked like he was going to need a perfect offseason to win fans back over.
Well, that offseason has gotten off to a terrific start despite the loss of Martin and Zamorano. He flipped Clarizio back from Alabama, flipped a 2023 Oregon State signee who was on a two-year mission trip, and held off Ohio State for Aydan West.
But the loss of Martin still hurts. It was a shock that he decided to leave his alma mater for the same position at UCLA and fans were left wondering why.
Smith gave the answer on Wednesday after thanking him for his one year of service.
Smith thanks Demetrice Martin for a season coaching CBs and says his departure back to the West Coast at UCLA is related to personal reasons.
— Matt Wenzel (@mwenzel2) December 4, 2024
While he didn't specifically indicate what the official reason for Martin's departure was, he did hint at it being for personal reasons which usually means it has something to do with family. And since he's from Pasadena, Calif., the move makes sense. His family is in California and it makes sense that he'd want to be close to them while coaching in the Big Ten still and working his way up the coaching ranks.
I'm not going to sit here and speculate the specific reason Martin left, but it doesn't sound like it was due to the fact that he was unhappy with his alma mater or the new coaching staff.
Maybe one day he can make a return to East Lansing.