Jonathan Smith talks trust, resources and consistency heading into year two
Across the room from the cameras and bright lights of the main stage of Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas, head coach Jonathan Smith took time to discuss his team ahead of the 2025 season with members of the Michigan State media who had made their way out west.
That conversation centered on a basic tenet of program building: trust.
When Smith took over at Michigan State, he inherited a program that was coming off of an embarrassing coaching change and back-to-back losing seasons.
In a world where instant gratification and results are emphasized over a slow rebuild, Smith takes a different approach; one without smoke and mirrors or gimmicks. He desires to build a program for the long run, not a flash in the pan that fizzles out quickly.
“When you are starting to build a program, it starts with trust,” he said to about ten or so local reporters, gathered around his podium. “Trust in getting to know each other but also trust in the approach we are taking; trust in the opportunity for the players is going to be there – so I think that is the word when you’re building from the bottom up, from the ground level, and that is how we’ve tried to approach it here.”
Trust allows a program to weather a storm or endure the growing pains of climbing back to the top. Trust builds confidence and creates a bond where ego is left out the door and effort is on full display. When a clear and disciplined plan is executed, it helps cast a vision not necessarily for the present, but for the future.
As this attribute of trust is forming within the Michigan State program, players understand that their coaching staff will put them in the best position to succeed – and coaches have confidence that their players will be prepared to face the grueling Big Ten season.
In this era of college football, where players can transfer as many times as they want, trust is getting harder and harder to instill. When rosters turn over at a high clip and fall camp is filled with a rotating door of new faces, trust can be hard to establish. So building long term trust within a program requires roster retention.
“I think with retaining players you know them better, they buy into the approach we’re going about it, they believe in their opportunity in it,” Smith said. “Often times when you retain in your program, those guys start to speak your language to the new players. They can be the example on how we are trying to approach that.”
Going into 2025, Michigan State retains many key players, such as Nick Marsh, Aiden Chiles, Jordan Hall, and Stanton Ramil, who Smith hopes can lead the team with the vision the staff has laid out. Spartans Illustrated had a chance to speak to Marsh about just that.
This fall, instead of instilling a new playbook, a new language, and a new method for preparation, the staff can focus on the small details that will make the difference between winning and losing. Now that trust is starting to be established, the results on the field will hopefully start to follow as well.
Smith understands that football will determine the success of MSU’s Athletic Department as a whole
As Michigan State welcomes in J Batt as the school’s athletic director, he mentioned right away that the success of the football program will drive the rest of the athletic department forward. Without a performing football team, its hard to have highly successful programs across the campus. This is not only from an on-field perspective, but also when it comes to revenue, perception, and relevance. Smith understands that pressure that it puts on himself and the rest of his program.
“Football drives a lot with athletics and the school itself,” he said. “We want to be successful and that pressure is always there and I’ve appreciated J from day one.”
This is the mentality that is going to be required to build a successful football program. In this era, Smith can’t do it alone, he’ll need the full support and allocation of resources that J Batt and Michigan State donors and fans can offer. As much as trust is vital, there is no way around the fact that resources and funds are a must in order to attract and retain talent to East Lansing.
In addition to the support from Batt and the athletic department, Smith is relying on his team of assistants to help propel this team towards a successful season.
“I think we have a big time staff and some people in the building who are really good at their job and [I’m] continuing to allow them to run with things,” he said.
This approach again emphasizes the value Smith puts on trust, allowing his staff to play into their strengths, focusing on their specific areas while staying aligned with the same goals in front of them. While they are needed, football (especially at the college level) is about so much more than just Xs and Os, it requires a robust and healthy culture where the whole is greater than its parts.
June’s recruiting success
Trust not only impacts the current roster and staff, but also plays a massive role in recruiting and selling the program to young prospects. When Smith was hired in November of 2023, he had to fill out the 2024 class in a moment’s notice, and there was no time to build much trust with the incoming prospects. The 2025 class allowed for more relationship building and trust, but without seeing much success on the field, there was only so much Smith and his staff could do.
However, in this current class (2026), the relationships and trust is finally coming to fruition.
“You talk about the momentum we got, you feel really good on the recruiting side, the 2026 class,” Smith said, also pointing to the fact that the development of his current players has been an asset to potential recruits as well.
Recruiting and on-field success and development are symbiotic.
For many programs it starts with recruiting, like Indiana last year. They went all in on bringing talent in year one and were able to find real success. However, heading into year two for coach Curt Cignetti, it remains to be seen if the roster turnover and culture will allow for sustained success. Smith has taken a different approach and feels that once they start stacking positive outcomes on the field, the recruiting wins will come more and more.
This will be the test for 2025.
Will Michigan State be able to have enough success and internal development to continue to improve on talent acquisition and forward momentum. Smith believes that with consistency, resources, and a whole lot of trust, Michigan State can find the success that everyone supporting the team craves.
To see the full conversation with Jonathan Smith check out the video below: