Jonathan Smith building solid foundation for Michigan State football in 2025 class

When Jonathan Smith took over as Michigan State football's next head coach back in November, he had a tall task ahead of him. He had to figure out how to both turn the roster around in a hurry and finish recruiting the 2024 class on a high note.

Well, he's done just that in the portal, turning the roster around and providing the team with a really good quarterback, a tight end, some offensive linemen, a running back, and a whole new defense essentially. And he took a recruiting class that dwindled away and was ranked in the 90s all the way up into the top-40 range.

Fast forward to the spring and he had zero commitments in his 2025 class. Everyone was wondering when he'd finally add to his first full class as head coach and now it sits at 13 commits by the end of June.

And while none of those 13 commits is a consensus four-star (Jace Clarizio is a four-star on On3), he seems to be doing what made Mark Dantonio so successful: he's building the foundation.

Dantonio's first full class as head coach in 2008 (not counting 2007's class because he was just hired and the same goes for Smith in 2024) was ranked just 40th in the nation. If the trend continues with Smith, he'll probably have a very similar national finish. Dantonio's first class was far from sexy and had guys like Glenn Winston, Tyler Hoover, Trenton Robinson, Johnny Adams, and Keshawn Martin. Guys who won't jump out in recruiting rankings but all played well enough to lead MSU to greatness.

That's the exact base that Smith seems to be building in 2025. He has a bunch of three-star prospects who are in his own backyard and were overlooked by Michigan and Ohio State and other Big Ten teams in the Midwest, but the Spartans like how they fit.

And that's how you build a successful program.

We saw Mel Tucker try to swing for the fences early and often and while he landed some solid recruits, he also missed on most of his Plan A targets, leaving him scrambling to fill out classes.

Smith is taking the correct approach. He's building a foundation of solid players who will grow into role players and then starters and by that time, Smith could very well be recruiting top 25 classes.

Patience, Spartan fans. Smith is doing this thing right.