Michigan State Coach Jonathan Smith Learned From 3 Legends

Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith was mentored by three great college coaches through his playing and coaching careers -- Chris Petersen, Mike Riley, and Dennis Erickson.

Oct. 1, 2011; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Dennis Erickson prior to the game against the Oregon State Beavers at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports / Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

When you're around the game long enough, you're bound to learn from some great coaches at some point.

Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith was fortunate to have at least three of them through both his playing and coaching careers.

Smith coached under Chris Petersen at Washington and Boise State. As a quarterback at Oregon State, Smith played under Mike Riley and Dennis Erickson -- Riley in his first season with the program and Erickson in his last three.

"I could talk for quite a while on really all three of those guys," Smith said at Big Ten Football Media Days on Wednesday. "I think about Mike Riley being authentic. Sometimes, guys get the title of head coach, been doing it for a while, he never really changed his personality type.

"Strategy, learned a ton from Coach Riley in regards he was an offensive coordinator and a defensive coordinator in his career. That was my early-on learning about the game, got a ton from that.

Erickson succeeded Riley at Oregon State, coaching Smith for the majority of his college career. The two-time national champion was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2019.

"Dennis Erickson, ultimate competitor," Smith said. "This guy was competitive. No slow-down, no back-down out of that guy. Evaluator or talent. He could recognize talent quickly. And had long conversations with him as a young coach on how he did that, on recognizing talent.

Smith coached under Peterson during his years as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Washington and as a quarterbacks coach at Boise State. Together, Smith and Petersen led the Huskies to the 2016 College Football Playoff.

"Chris Petersen, on the coaching side, been with him the longest by far," Smith said. "He told a ton. You talk about organization, vision, setting a direction, alignment, creating alignment within a program, an organization, master at it.

"Creativity, offensive background, but creativity on the offensive side. Then continued to always push to find ways to improve, never staying the same. I learned that from Coach Pete."

If Smith were to turn around the Spartans' program like he did in Corvallis, he too could go down as a legendary coach.

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