Talented 2026 Offensive Tackle from Ohio Attended Michigan State's Spartan Dawg Con
![Michigan State's head coach Jonathan Smith leaves the file after the Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. Michigan State's head coach Jonathan Smith leaves the file after the Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2400,h_1350,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/spartan_nation/01j3vd0qzmk8prv8qmfa.jpg)
Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith has taken full advantage of every opportunity to recruit talented players nationwide during this offseason.
He continued to do so during Michigan State’s annual Spartan Dawg Con event this past weekend. As Coach Smith proceeds to build the proper base for Michigan State’s football program’s reemergence, he has shown an understanding of the importance of recruiting in that process.
This past weekend, Michigan State hosted its Spartan Dawg Con event for the third consecutive offseason, giving Coach Smith and his coaching staff a valuable recruiting tool. Spartan Dawg Con assembles current, former, and future Michigan State football players, with 2024 Michigan State commits, and Michigan State recruits in future recruiting classes. Coach Smith made good use of his Spartan Dawg Con event, offering multiple scholarships to players of various talent levels.
Since arriving at Michigan State, Coach Smith has made it a point to recruit players from Michigan and other Midwest states. That was again the case when talented offensive lineman Caleb Jones participated in the Spartan Dawg Con event this past weekend. Jones is an unranked offensive tackle in the 2026 recruiting class but would be one of the many unranked players Coach Smith plans to develop over the next few seasons.
The Ironton, Ohio native announced shortly before the event that he would attend this past weekend’s event in East Lansing. The 6-foot-5 and 290-pound offensive lineman is yet another unranked player Coach Smith and his coaching staff have expressed interest in this offseason. Coach Smith has shown that rankings do not matter as he tries to rebuild Michigan State’s football program.
Michigan State is only the second football program to offer Jones a scholarship, which makes his visit to East Lansing more noteworthy. Michigan State would arguably provide Jones with just as good a situation as Kentucky, which is currently the only football program that has offered Jones a scholarship, according to 247Sports. As Michigan State football program’s rebuild gets underway, it will undoubtedly need all the help it can get, which means securing players of all rankings, as unranked players often turn into important pieces down the road.
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