When Jonathan Smith took the Michigan State football job, he knew that the expectations for his new program were higher than they were at Oregon State. He knew he'd be under more pressure in East Lansing than he ever was in Corvallis.
Fortunately for him, he has examples of what to do (Mark Dantonio) and what not to do (Mel Tucker) from the previous regimes before him. All he had to do was look at what Dantonio did and replicate that and avoid what Tucker did, especially on the recruiting trail.
Dantonio made a living on dominating in-state recruiting while also faring well in the region (especially Ohio). Tucker tried to focus on getting the biggest names to campus before providing results, and it backfired as most of his Plan A targets had the Spartans in their final 2-3 before committing elsewhere and forcing him to fall back on Plan B and Plan C guys every time.
Smith has been taking a page out of Dantonio's book thus far, focusing on recruiting the region, but especially focusing on in-state targets.
The second-year head coach has placed himself firmly in the race for four-star in-state tight end Anthony Cartwright from the 2027 class.
Greg Smith of Rivals reported that Cartwright is planning to visit Michigan State this fall.
Miami, Michigan State and LSU visits have been set for 2027 four-star TE Anthony Cartwright. He spoke with @Rivals about his recruitment and what's next.
— Greg Smith (@GregSmithRivals) August 7, 2025
🔗 https://t.co/MGwqGqXlkr pic.twitter.com/QYX1GyXQu7
Cartwright isn't going to be an easy prospect to land as he's being pursued by LSU, Miami, Florida, Michigan, Ohio State, and Oregon, but getting him on campus is a great start.
The four-star from Franklin, Mich., is ranked the No. 16 tight end in the 2027 class as well as No. 258 overall and he's the state's fourth-best recruit, according to 247Sports.
Smith is going to have to work overtime to land Cartwright over some college football behemoths.