Michigan State Spartans head coach Jonathan Smith / Starr Portice, On SI
There is no shame in losing a game in the very competitive Big Ten Conference, in any sport.
The world of college football is as competitive as it has ever been. Still, in the midst of the disappointing season, the unthinkable happened today at the High Cathedral of the Spartan Nation: Spartan Stadium.
Down an embarrassing 38-7, with time running out in the third quarter, the Spartans’ head coach, Jonathan Smith, let the clock run out.
Down 38-7, with a team that is underperforming, in front of what was left of your Homecoming crowd, and a house full of recruits, he waved the white flag.
No one was more outspoken in support of Smith, whom I had spoken to Michigan State people about hiring long before Mel Tucker was gone, as the well-respected head man of the Oregon State Beavers.
Known for an ability to develop talent, and an offensive mind that worked outside the box, one National Football League General Manager told me at the time, “That guy would fit the culture of Michigan State, the work ethic of Tom Izzo, and the ability to develop guys which is what Sparty has done every time they have been good, going back to the sixties.”
Last season, I mentioned that I had doubts about whether Smith could get the Spartans to a bowl game, even when doing countless media interviews around the nation. However, if he could, it would be a magnificent accomplishment considering the condition of the program left by the previous coach.
This season, I said that, being only in year two, he had to get them to six wins and bowl eligibility. It wasn’t like the bar was overly high.
I expected them to lose last week in Nebraska, but coming out of the bye week, I didn’t expect them to be an embarrassment. Setting the stage to knock off Cinderella and crush her glass slipper when the UCLA Bruins came to town.
On a typical gorgeous Michigan fall day, the Alumni and precious donors are back in town, and a national television audience was there. Smith had the chance to show them all: Spartan Nation is back, but Spartan Nation is coming.
This is not a personal attack; Smith is a fine man. It is a statement about what he did today.
If you are unhappy, play your backups, but you don’t wave the white flag and expect your team not to quit?
I had an NFL GM tell me recently about fans who want their team to tank, “Once you tell your players it is OK sometimes to quit, you never get them back.”
I agree, Smith, in my opinion, did that.
Can anyone in Spartan Nation, or around the world of sports, ever imagine Tom Izzo, down any number of points, essentially giving up? Let alone with over ten minutes in a Big Ten game, or any game? It is heresy that would compel Izzo to grab a stepladder and punch me in the face for suggesting it.
How about the Spartans’ most impressive young coach, Adam Nightingale, waving the white flag and essentially giving up with more than 15 minutes remaining? Give me a break.
The sad part is that while both Michigan State basketball and hockey are competitive nationally, football isn’t, and neither Izzo nor Nightingale would have done that now, or in the rebuilding stage.
I am not calling for Smith to be fired…yet.
But what was on display today, for a man making a base salary of $7.35 million, was absurd. Since he essentially quit, does Michigan State get a refund check for today’s game?
With a buyout of just over $33 million, the Spartans and Smith are married.
I am okay with that if the coach I advocated for nationally coaches in the manner that earned that trust.
But not if he essentially is going to give up.
I have sat in uncomfortable press conferences and listened as Tom Izzo apologized to fans, alumni, his team, and anyone else he could think of. His resume doesn’t require that. He did it because he cares.
He was also making a lot less than $7.35 million.
Jonathan Smith owes Spartan Nation an apology, not for the loss to UCLA, but for waving the white flag. For doing the one thing no coach, from the NFL to elementary school flag football, can ever do: tell your team it is OK to stop fighting.
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