The Jonathan Smith era may have ended with a win, but Michigan State fans are going to remember the 15 losses. He didn’t have much success in East Lansing, and the general consensus is that people are happy for change, but he did have some highlights — and lowlights.
Michigan State poached Smith originally from Oregon State where he had a lot of success turning his alma mater around, but he didn’t have the same luck in East Lansing. He showed promise during his first season with a quick start, but things seemed to fall apart after a road loss to Boston College — a game that was in the Spartans’ grasp, but slipped away late.
That was a common theme during the Smith era.
Smith was given a reset button to begin the 2025 season and he responded by racing out to a 3-0 start before losing at USC, then letting a Nebraksa win get away, and then getting clobbered at home by a 1-4 UCLA team without a head coach. Fans began to turn on him after that UCLA loss, and he ended up losing eight straight games before closing the season with a win over Maryland.
His tenure was overall forgettable, but let’s take a look at the biggest highlights and lowlights.
Highlights from the Jonathan Smith era
- Boston College OT win: This was an obvious choice. The vibes after this win were immaculate and everyone was ready to jump back on the bandwagon. Unfortunately, the excitement following this win was short-lived.
- Landing Aidan Chiles: At the time, this was considered one of the biggest recruiting wins in recent memory at Michigan State. Unfortunately, it didn’t play out that way. Aidan Chiles showed promise, but he was just too inconsistent and eventually lost his starting job to Alessio Milivojevic.
- Maryland win in 2024: Against, vibes were incredibly high after this win because we saw what Chiles could be and Nick Marsh, too, was a superstar. That was one of the most fun games in the Smith era and it felt like things were going to be so good after that win.
- Iowa win: Another one of those “maybe he’s the guy” games for both Smith and Chiles. The Spartans were able to score 32 on a stingy Iowa defense and win a game that not many experts believed they could. It was all downhill after this.
- Maryland win in 2025: The win on Saturday night was one of the highlights of the Smith era because his team didn’t quit and it came up clutch in the final game of the head coach’s tenure. There were plenty of smiles to go around at Ford Field.
Now, onto the lowlights.
Lowlights from the Jonathan Smith era
- Losing Sam Leavitt, Katin Houser: This was the first bad sign for Spartan fans, but we overlooked it because he brought in Chiles. Letting both Sam Leavitt and Katin Houser get away hurt, especially because quarterback play has been disappointing since — outside of this strong finish by Milivojevic.
- Boston College loss: This was a “well, that one got away” loss, but Smith was still in the good graces of fans despite a heartbreaking fourth-quarter letdown. The weather was ugly, the play was uglier, and Michigan State lost a heartbreaker late. This would become a theme.
- Michigan loss in 2024: I don’t know what was more disappointing, the loss against a beatable Michigan team or the fact that Smith didn’t know how important the game was until he coached “this sucker”. It was all bad.
- Rutgers loss in the season finale: Losing to Rutgers is always a bad look, but losing to the Scarlet Knights with a bowl game on the line at home is even worse. Add in the fact that Michigan State was blown out in this game on its own field, and this was one of the most embarrassing losses in recent MSU history.
- The 2025 season: While there were some highlights (Boston College win, Maryland win), the entire season was one big lowlight. Whether it was the UCLA blowout or the Minnesota debacle or the Iowa meltdown or the crumbling at Nebraska, Smith just couldn’t get out of his own way. The entire season was very forgettable.
As you can see, the lowlights outweighed the highlights, but it wasn’t all bad, I guess.