REPORT: What Keeps Michigan State Fans Up at Night Heading Into This Season?

Michigan State’s football team is headed in a new direction, as Coach Jonathan Smith was hired to return the Spartans to national prominence. While Coach Smith likely has a difficult season ahead of him, he has started to improve Michigan State’s roster through the transfer portal and recruiting trail. His ability to successfully recruit gives Michigan State a fighting chance of making it to a bowl game this season. 

Coach Smith hopes to move Michigan State back up the college football ranks over the next few years. Michigan State fans hope Coach Smith can efficiently improve the team.

However, Stephen Brooks of 247Sports believes Michigan State’s fanbase has concerns as Coach Smith enters his first season at the helm in East Lansing. 

“Probably the idea that, in this new landscape, MSU has a ceiling of simply reaching the playoff but never winning it,” Brooks said. “One could argue that was true in the four-team model, though MSU’s 2013-15 run serves as evidence the Spartans were on the doorstep. The highs of the [Mark] Dantonio era showed what was possible in East Lansing, and I do detect an underlying concern that the Spartans will never reach those heights again.”

Brooks noted that the most significant questions surrounding Michigan State’s football program revolve around whether the football program and athletic department are ready to transition to a new age of collegiate athletics. College sports, especially college football, are now a player’s market. 

“Will they spend enough? Will they recruit well enough? Is Smith the guy to do it? For a young coach, Smith’s resume is impressive, but he’s also not a proven winner at the highest level,” Brooks said. “MSU fans, after a taste of greatness and especially after the mostly lukewarm decade since, are afraid the best they’ll ever be is a good program, not a great one.”

Generally, the best players in college football go to the highest bidder. College football programs that refuse to adjust to the direction college football has taken have begun to fall off the national stage. Conversely, the ability to pay players has undoubtedly given schools that have not been as successful as they’d like the opportunity to improve quickly.

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