Michigan State football's Jonathan Smith speaks on transferring to rivals

Michigan State football is closing in on its first season under the helm of Jonathan Smith, and he and the rest of the coaching staff are hard at work on the recruiting trail, along with trying to build relationships with in-state talent.

Coach Smith went to Wayne State University this past week as he partook as one of several college football head coaches to speak at the National College Showcase camp held on the campus. Smith had plenty to talk about, whether it was the Spartans' approach to the coming season, or the excitement around the program, and the return of season-opener being on a Friday night.

However, the biggest takeaway from Smith's comments was how shocking the transfer destination for Jaden Mangham was. It's no secret now, that Mangham chose the rivals down the street.

Smith can be seen speaking to some of the participants at the camp in a photo shared on X by SpartanMag.com.

Smith spoke with Matt Wenzel from MLive about the oddness of transferring to a rival program, and Smith was humble in saying, that it is just part of the sport these days.

"This landscape, this day and age age across the country, guys have opportunities to transfer," Smith said. "I think it will become more and more common."

To transfer from Michigan State to Michigan and vice versa was pretty unheard of, but in the last five or so years, it seems to have become a new common trend.

It started with Edward Warinner in 2020, who left the Spartans for the Wolverines, but that was primarily due to his dad being a coach at Michigan at the time. Ben VanSumeren then joined MSU from Michigan the following summer.

The loss of Mangham stings, yes, but we you can't take away the fact, players aren't all in for a team anymore in this new era of college sports.

That is the harsh reality, as you will likely see more and more transfers from one program to a rival.

Smith reiterated to Wenzel that it's just what comes with the territory now.

"I'm not trying to say it's going to be very, very common," Smith said of rivals changing sides. "But just in this landscape nowadays it's going to happen every once in a while."

Certainly it's bizarre to see someone who played for your beloved team, wearing the rivals colors, but everyone is just going to have to get used to it.