REPORT: MSU Promoting OL Assistant, Continues to Build Staff
Michigan State football is building a strong foundation in Year 2 of Coach Jonathan Smith's tenure. It has strong connections on the recruiting trail, and the Spartans will be more confident when attacking blue-chip talent. In the transfer portal, they look to build around their program future in quarterback Aidan Chiles.
The Spartans are also building their coaching staff. 247Sports' Justin Thind reported on Sunday that Michigan State promoted graduate assistant Jacob Lail to assistant offensive line coach under Jim Michalczik, keeping Lail in East Lansing with the Green and White.
Lail was a name I consistently heard when I spoke to offensive line targets. His value to the program was implied with how highly recruits thought of him, carrying a significant amount of the recruiting workload for the Spartans when it came to the big nasties up front.
Thind gave the background on the Spartans' promotion of Lail.
"His grad student eligibility was set to expire this offseason, so the Spartans making this move ensures that he will stay in the building," he wrote. "He was first hired away from Wayne State by former MSU offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic. He was immediately retained by current OL coach Jim Michalczik when this staff arrived last winter.
"He was routinely credited by recruits for his ability to build relationships with them over the past couple years, as GAs often work closely with recruits and their families, including being their primary tour guide on campus and being their transportation to and from the airport, among other responsibilities. In-season communication with recruits while Michalzcik was more involved with game-week scheming has been another one of Lail's credited attributes, when talking to recruits."
Of course, Thind mentioned Lail's prowess in assisting with transfer portal recruitment. Lail played a role in the Spartans' recent high-profile grab of top offensive lineman Conner Moore.
"Lail and Michalzcik are fresh off of landing the top-available OT in the transfer portal in Conner Moore," Thind wrote. "They also landed Wake Forest standout IOL Matt Gulbin earlier this cycle, as well as other key depth pieces."
Smith and Co. have proven to have an unorthodox approach into just about every way they run the program. It is new-age thinking with traditional values of building a familial environment. The new Spartans work from the inside out. It is also a culture that prides itself on hard work.
"Michigan State is making it a priority to retain many of graduate assistants they've worked with over the last year, which hasn't been commonplace at the P4 level," Thind wrote. "Often, GAs start at a place like this, then go sharpen their skills and resumes at a lower-level school and try to work their way back to a full-time job at this level. Instead, Jonathan Smith and the staff are insistent on doing things this way, and it seems to be earned by all accounts."
Michael France is Sports Illustrated's Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.
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