Michigan State football closed incredibly strong on early signing day

Early Signing Day is officially in the books for Michigan State football and, well, everything went the Spartans' way outside of Bryson Williams waiting until February to sign.

The Spartans signed everyone that was committed to their 2025 class outside of the recently decommitted LaRue Zamorano who left just hours after Demetrice Martin took the UCLA job. There was fear that more players could reopen their recruitment such as high three-star cornerback Aydan West who was getting pursued by Ohio State, but Jonathan Smith held his ground.

Not only did Smith hold on to West who had a recent Ohio State offer on a visit to Columbus, but he re-flipped Jace Clarizio back to Michigan State after he had flipped to Alabama last week.

On top of that, he flipped former Oregon State signee Leonard Ah You who was a high three-star linebacker in the 2023 class before he took a two-year mission trip. He was expected to join Oregon State next season but he opted to follow Smith to East Lansing, flipping on early signing day.

All things considered, this 58th-ranked recruiting class was a success. No, it's not the highly-rated class we had all hoped for, but you can't expect much more after a 5-7 season under a new coach.

Michigan State has to prove it can win on the field before it starts bringing in top-20 or top-30 classes and I expect that to begin in 2025. If Smith can win 8-9 games next season, I'd fully expect a top-30 class, at least, and then add on to that via the portal. This is a golden opportunity for him to prove himself and shut the doubters up.

Now it's time to hit the transfer portal after a successful early signing day.