Coach Jonathan Smith Opens Up About His Feelings Entering Fall Camp

Michigan State kicks off the first season of the Coach Jonathan Smith era, as fall camp has begun. Coach Smith opened up on his feelings as camp begins.

Michigan State's head coach Jonathan Smith looks on during the first day of football camp on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

After spending the last six seasons as the head coach of his alma mater, Oregon State, Michigan State Coach Jonathan Smith is set to begin the next stage of his career in East Lansing.

In addition to a new coaching staff, Michigan State has seen numerous changes to its roster this offseason, making for an exciting fall camp in August. Smith will undoubtedly have his work cut out as he tries to rebuild Michigan State’s football program. This season’s fall camp will be critical in jumpstarting the turnaround.

Smith has spent the last 20 years coaching college football in various positions at various schools. Still, as he enters arguably the most prominent coaching position of his career, Smith said he is still excited about what is on the horizon at Michigan State. He noted that while he will be the face of Michigan State football’s rebuild, it will take much more than him for Michigan State to be successful moving forward.

Smith elaborated on his feelings entering his first fall camp at Michigan State. 

"I think it's a new adventure, a new challenge, and an opportunity that I'm still excited about,” Smith said following the Spartans' first practice of fall camp on Tuesday. “I also recognize this is a big operation. There's a lot of people involved -- coaches and players. A big mantra, even talking to the team last night, is all of us [are] in this thing together.

"There's some build-up. I keep going back to this word, 'excitement.' Excited to get started. Finally getting the group -- we got 118 [players] in camp. It's the first time this group is totally together and got some good work today."

Michigan State was once a football program regularly competing for conference titles and premier bowl games. That has not been the case recently, but Smith’s goal is to get Michigan State’s football program back to that point. Michigan State’s success on the field this season and moving forward will heavily depend on Smith’s ability to adequately install a new offensive and defensive scheme in fall camp.

Time will soon tell how well he was able to do so.

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