What a Bowl Bid Would Do for Coach Jonathan Smith and Michigan State Football

Michigan State and Coach Jonathan Smith are entering what most expect to be a difficult season. Coach Smith and his coaching staff are taking over a messy situation in East Lansing, but they have already begun to turn things around for Michigan State’s football program. 

It has been a few years since Michigan State reached a bowl game, and many do not believe this will be the year they break that streak. However, Smith and Michigan State can do so this season with good coaching, good play on the field, and a little luck. While they have a four-game stretch that no team in the country would want to play, they still have six very winnable games on the schedule. 

Arguably, the most challenging aspect of a new coaching hire is the new coaching staff recruiting their desired players and then getting the most out of those players on the field. Smith and his coaching staff had a rough start in the transfer portal but recovered nicely. They’ve also done a solid job on the recruiting trail, nearly filling their 2025 recruiting class and getting started on the 2026 recruiting class. 

Smith and his coaching staff have taken care of nearly everything they can off the field this offseason. Soon, they will have to perform well as a team on the gridiron. A critical aspect of recruiting is on-field performance. Many schools host recruits during big games and want to perform well in those games so the recruits can get an accurate idea of what to expect if they commit and are enticed to sign with that school.

This is one of the most critical aspects of what a bowl appearance in Smith’s first season at the helm could do for him and his coaching staff. College football programs are built on recruiting, and potential recruits want to play for a winner. 

While Michigan State will undoubtedly take its fair share of losses in the first year under Smith, a bowl bid would be a massive success for him and his coaching staff. It would give them even more of a pitch to recruits of the impending turnaround for Michigan State football.

Smith and his coaching staff can tell recruits their hopes and plans for a turnaround, but a bowl bid in his very first season would be all the proof he needs of what is coming for Michigan State’s football program. It would be immediate proof that Michigan State is headed in the right direction. A bowl bid would say more to potential recruits than any words or sales pitch Smith and his coaching staff could come up with.

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