While Friday may not be the best day to be a Michigan State football fans after (likely) losing a four-star running back from the Spartans' own backyard, Jonathan Smith is working to change the fortunes around East Lansing.
Losing Kory Amachree to Kansas was not on my recruiting bingo card in the 2026 class, but that's exactly what happened and that has forced the Spartans to look elsewhere.
Earlier this week, Smith extended an offer to another local running back who's currently committed to Toledo, and on Friday, he locked in an official visit with a four-star rusher from Maryland.
According to reports, Damon Ferguson will be in East Lansing on June 16.
The four-star running back from Maryland has official visits scheduled to Minnesota (May 30), Pitt (June 5), and Virginia (June 12) so far and he recently visited Indiana on April 25 so the Hoosiers are a team to watch here, too.
This is a nice move by Smith after missing out on Amachree and it shows that he's securing Plan B and Plan Cs before completely running out of options.
Fans have been slightly underwhelmed -- and by slightly, I mean very -- by the lack of recruiting prowess by Smith and the staff in the high school ranks. He has worked the portal hard and has landed some quality talent there, but it's not to the level that many Michigan State fans expect.
The 2026 class is going to show us a lot about what Smith can do in East Lansing and it should take care of itself as long as the Spartans put together a winning product on the field.
Ferguson is the No. 379 overall recruit and 26th-best running back in the 2026 class -- two spots behind Amachree.