Jonathan Smith outlines his vision for Michigan State football | NBC Sports

New Michigan State football coach Jonathan Smith so Jonathan uh first of all welcome welcome to the Big 10 how's that feel so far uh it feels exciting you know new adventure um uh competitive you know you walk around you start looking at these logos seeing these coaches and some of these players that are here you can see how competitive this thing's going to be and I'm excited about that challenge speaking of challenge you take over a program that was in a lot of turmoil uh you know finished the year with a lot of things that weren't great for him but what what is your first step or what have been your first steps to try to stop that and get it turned in a different direction I think you just talk about the the vision you have for the the program and and the players and the environment you're trying to create I think this is the Ultimate Team game and really need to have some deep trust with that and so diving into relationships um because there's some new faces uh in the program not just players right coaches as well talk about uh doing it together because you know recruiting well this coach recruited me or that coach this type of thing we're all Spartans here and we got to be be able to do this together in this Ultimate Team game what did you find when you got to East Lancing in terms of the players particularly the ones that said okay I'm G to I'm going to stick here and stay here and see how this plays out and and try to ride it early Impressions even watching the film from the that year you know I think there's some competitive character all the distraction that say with this is going on these guys played competitive they had a chance really to go to a bowl game on a couple tight losses and they were doing that throughout the entire year so they stuck together thought there was some competitive character there I haven't been been impressed with the players on football means a lot to them they like to practice they like to work they want to uh get better and so they enjoy practicing and working hard and I I like that yeah so you come from Oregon Career path State 13 years there all together as a player GA coach but your whole career was spent on the west coast right talk talk us through your career path there yeah so 5 years as a Player working state in two years as a graduate assistant got my first full-time job University of Idaho spent six there go down to Montana for two which was awesome and then went down to Boise State for two years up to Seattle University of Washington four years as the offensive coordinator and then six years as the head coach at Oregon at Oregon State so Northwest even has been the whole year and that's why again excited about kind of this new adventure out here in East Lancing been bunch of fun and in the big tan yeah and how many coaches did you bring with you so onfield coaches yeah we brought six over um which thought was important to have some you know continuity speak the same language shared experience but didn't want to stop there wanted some guys with deep knowledge of this area and Joe Rossy a defensive coordinator been in this league done a really nice job Chad Wilt had been in this league in multiple spots and then we got two uh coaches that are former Spartans that live the experience of playing here and I thought that was more uh important so coach Hawkins coach Martin uh round that out yeah um Michigan State rivalry I I find it kind of interesting too just and I don't know if this played into you getting the job or you being attracted to the job um but you came from Oregon State where there's a a really interesting bitter instate rivalry with the the school that maybe people know more about you know uh and Michigan Michigan State is the same kind of robbery kind of a big brother little brother almost feel to it sometimes I think Michigan State's always had a little bit of a chip on their shoulder um does that translate for you well it does I I enjoy being a part of instate rivalries and even all those previous stops I mentioned all of them really have instate rivalries and so I think that's a fun part of college football I like being a part of that and so that was appealing uh to come to Michigan State you talked about what was attractive to come was it still difficult to leave your Alma Moder 100% I mean if conference or realignment wouldn't have happened or if the Pack 12 would have stayed intact do you think that would have affected it yeah you know there's no question that was a factor in the decision because that's not easy you know you place that uh you know made a bunch of memories the people uh great experiences of you know wins and development players currently there so that was not easy to leave at all yeah well one of the players you were able to bring with you Aiden child as a quarterback uh talk to me about him a little bit what do you expect from him what do you think uh he can bring to the table I think he's really instinctive for a youngster you know got to see him play a you know decent amount last year and it shows his instincts his passion for the game uh he's got some Talent he can he can throw and move and athleticism but he's got a deep desire he likes working uh loves the game and he's pretty instinctive player yeah so a Style of play lot of times people will say okay well these teams that are coming from the old pack 12 the West Coast it's going to be a new brand of football in the Big 10 a more physical brand of football but but your style and the way Oregon State played and won uh you guys were pretty Smashmouth pound the football kind of offense weren't you we want to make the game physical yeah on really both sides but offensively you know the Run game and maybe it's a little bit more traditional looking um and so I will say it just being now at Big 10 studying there's some explosive offense there's some Talent at receiver running back quarterback strategically on some of these offenses it's a pretty Cutting Edge yeah so what are your realistically what Vision for 2021 do you hope to accomplish in your first year what what what do you want to see happen I want to establish an identity in all three phases identity as a team of you know being about finishing and making it physical I want to see is a constant state of improvement when you know game one we play want to improve the game too and keep that process going so we're playing our best football at the end of the year when the games want to be in meaningful games in November and we're playing our best ball what do you think will be the biggest challenges for you this first year you know I think anytime you first year adversity is going to come everybody's going to you face that I think the biggest challenge is how well we can handle adversity respond back ball doesn't bounce our way have a you know tough half how we respond in the second half those things I think a lot about in first year you only play one of the new teams that is coming into the league but you are familiar with all of them is that for you and your staff does that at least cut some of your preparation down for the league yeah I think so I mean because familiar with the play whether they we traveling what the stadiums like those kind of things and the recruiting circles yeah what has surprised you the most so far off the field about Michigan State um you know really how welcoming the community's been uh the people uh I the passion knew was passionate not just for football though you go to these basketball games hockey at a big time year uh gymnastics the place is sold out the passion of for Michigan State athletics has been uh fun to be around couple guys that I've had the pleasure of being around a lot uh just want to know if you've had much interaction with so number one you mentioned basketball Tom ISO is a huge football fan have you had much connection with him good amount he's been awesome you know really the first day I got there uh talking to him and then we've continued it and he's been a huge help uh you know knowing the place knowing coaching aspir aspir he loves football and so he wants to be around that so I've leaned on him quite a bit Yeah and another another guy just that uh was there and was the last time you know Michigan State really was at at its peak Mark Antonio have you had a chance to to be with him at all a few times few phone calls he's been on my office now or more or less his office uh a couple of times and he's been he's been great too conversations how he got things going kind of his approach whether recruiting practice development um yep both those guys been a huge help your philosophy uh it was at Oregon State maybe now what it is at Michigan State how does it change as far as the balance between recruiting and developing and using the portal to try to find guys that are proven that can kind of plug and play a little bit more want to get it to a pretty similar approach in regards to majority come from high school and put in work and develop and get better and then you supplement your roster uh through the portal um we're not quite there this first year with all the transitions we've had but we' like to get to that point