Michigan State added a seventh year to incoming head football coach Jonathan Smith's contract in order to seal the deal to land the former Oregon State coach.
“I was nervous a couple weeks ago because there were jobs that were talking about being open — and there were jobs that were open — that were looking at him,” athletic director Alan Haller said during a press conference Tuesday, adding that Smith will make $7.25 million in his first season. “I had to step up my pursuit.”
The Spartans were 4-8 this season following a scandal that led to Mel Tucker being fired. Next year MSU will face Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA, all schools that are coming to the Big Ten from the Pac-12.
“There’s no other Big Ten coach that is going to have that jump-start on those four schools,” said Haller, who interviewed 12 coaching candidates at least once.
According to the Associated Press, Michigan State has only had one winning season in the past four years.
“A lot of us in this room understand, this is going to take some work,” Smith said at his introductory news conference at the Breslin Center. “I am definitely excited and up for the challenge — and the opportunity.”
Smith will get a $100,000 raise in each year of his contract, getting $7.85 million for his seventh season in 2030.
Smith was instrumental in turning around Oregon State, which had only one conference victory the year before Smith returned to coach. The Beavers were just 2-10 in 2018 during Smith’s first season and improved enough under him to win 25 games over the last three seasons of his six-year stay. He won 10 games last year, sharing Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors, and finished with a 34-35 record over six seasons at his alma mater.
