V-Cast: what we learned on first signing day of the Jonathan Smith era at Michigan State

SpartanMag staffers Jim Comparoni, Jason Killop, and Paul Konyndyk weigh in on the first phase of Jonathan Smith’s 2024 recruiting class at Michigan State. Smith signed 19 high school prospects on the first day of the early signing period, including On300 linebacker Brady Pretzlaff, the No. 4 player in Michigan.

Welcome to the spart mag.com vcast Jim compon Paul conik Jason Kaleb Signing Day recruiting day as we uh head into December give us a thumbs up here to like the channel and also subscribe to the channel go to spartanmag.com become a spartanmag subscriber $1 for a month you’ll get our continued coverage of

Michigan State’s recruiting class as Michigan State puts this together and continues to add to the roster as Jonathan Smith and his regime begins three weeks into it I’ll talk to Jason first um my opinion um you know I asked Jonathan Smith if he felt that this class met or exceeded his expectations

Based on what he was facing the day he took over 22 days ago 23 days ago with only two official visit weekends and what he had to do to scramble together at class I think a lot of Michigan State fans on our website have been pleasantly surprised with Michigan State recruiting

Victories coming down the stretch I think Michigan state did well to salvage this class joh Jan Smith said that he felt it it probably exceeded his expectations Jason what have your thoughts about the way this this class came together as it’s come together and uh Signing Day with still maybe one or

Two to add uh going forward no doubt and uh when when you f rewind a couple weeks ago um I was looking at possible routes for Michigan State to get near 20 commitments and to either to get to that point they almost needed to land every kid that visited campus and that’s about

What they did and I think that’s pretty impressive um obviously quarterback Ty Cherry chose Indiana and uh Francis breu committed to stuck with his commitment to Pittsburgh so those are the two big losses of signing day but other than that they really hit on everybody that

They wanted to bring up to campus for the most part in the high school class they as our readers know it’s a combination of former Michigan State commitments former Oregon State commitments and they even went down to Ohio and plucked Speedy wide receiver Austin clay from his Bowling Green

Commitments so making some of their own evaluations as long as long as following some of the old sta m michig State uh evaluations and then when you look at what they did in the transfer portal it’s really impressive adding uh five guys who have playing time experience at

The uh high levels of college football so that’s something that you can look to um competition at those positions with with each of those transfers at the next level you know Jason did a great job covering those recruits as they were rolling in Paul and I’m sure that you

Kept a breast of that also and Jonathan Smith touched on it today specifically the Oregon State guys that were committed to Oregon State that weren’t from the state of Oregon but players from outstate couple Running Backs from Texas Hawaii Florida um those guys as they came in and visited Michigan State

The Oregon State commitments from Jason’s coverage and so forth they came to Michigan State they liked it and Michigan State got every single one of those that they went after your thoughts on that anything else from today first off I want to give Jason props for his coverage it’s been fantastic I mean

Every single commitment we’ve had there’s been a story and then a follow-up story and Jason’s done a great job and he’s had a lot on his plate uh these past few weeks and and uh I know after not having a whole lot to cover he’s had more than his share of stuff to

Cover but he’s done a great job with that I I think one of the things when you look at that Oregon State guys they brought over uh you look at the staff continuity on offense that that jonath Jonathan Smith brought with him uh from Oregon State you know you’ve got the

Offensive coordinator you got the running back’s coach um you know you’ve got the offensive line coach so you know obviously Jonathan Smith uh being the quarterback’s coach or his background there so I think the guys that they brought over for the most part are offensive guys now these guys could play

Both ways and I think that’s one of the things I like about these guys in comparison to like what we saw during the de Antonio era there’s a lot more versatility and then the guys that they brought in but in terms of the Oregon State guys there was always already that

Relationship uh with that they sold those guys on with how they fit within the structure of the of the offense and I think that’s kind of the thing that that stood out to me and then you look at like Joe Rossy coming in well he brings in Brady pretzl uh the the

Linebacker from gayor that Michigan State totally missed the bow on should have never been uh that far off the radar but you know Joel Rossy brings in his guy and then You’ got some you know you’ve got some some transfer portal guys you got a Wisconsin linebacker so I think the my

Take away from this is those Oregon State guys that’s relationship based recruiting Brady pretzl coming in that’s relationship based recruiting with a guy like Joe Rossy who was in the in person to visit him during the recruiting process seven different times going to Gaylord uh you know Michigan State met

Have gone up there once and uh and I I’m not going to say that’s no disrespect to Michigan State it is disrespect to Michigan State because they totally missed the boat on a guy that that they could win football games with I go back to the beginning of the dantonio era

Eric Gordon wasn’t a great linebacker at Michigan State but he’s someone that won games and and I think pretzl has a better Prospect than than Eric Gordon Eric Gordon had a great career at Michigan State really thrived under the under Mark Antonio but when I see Brady

Pretzl I see a guy that’s a high B High football IQ guy he’s a guy that comes from a coach’s family uh he identifies stuff well and uh and he’s a weight room Warrior I I I really like them getting him and there’s always something about

It when you bring in two of the top five players in state that means a little bit more to me than if uh than if you bring in you know like one top five player like a Nick Marsh and not not a guy on defense that that makes this instate

Class um you know a little bit better than it would have otherwise but this is a guy that can help out and you know like I know the other guy that’s committed that didn’t sign today but the dude from Jaden Walker if they can bring in him then I think they’re really doing

Some good things in state and I think they’re going to do a lot better stuff in state moving forward I agree we’ve talked about Brady pretz um really all season I mean that’s a guy that um I agree with you that it looked like a Michigan State type of guy early on I

Wanted to go watch him play this fall just because I wanted an excuse to go up to Gaylord and watch a game in the fall and check him out and all that stuff when he was committed to Minnesota but I never got a sense that Michigan state

Was going to be interested in him then they kind of did once the Mel Tucker thing shook down Michigan State fortunate to be able to get in with him and flip him like you said the Rossy thing has something to do with that we mentioned pretzl because that was the

News today he decommitted from Minnesota a couple days ago did not announce his intentions until about 3:00 today after Jonathan Smith smoke spoke so Jonathan Smith was not able to talk about pretzl today but you interviewed Pretzel’s coach last week right and what did you learn about about him as you spoke with

Him well I mean this is a guy that was instrumental in one of the biggest turnarounds in Pro like of a high school program in the in state in the history of football in the state of Michigan I mean Gaylord was terrible a doormat and uh it’s been a long time since they

Since they went to the playoffs before that coaching staff got there his dad’s defensive coordinator up there that’s a guy that is a freshman him and his senior teammates they won one game won two games the next year and then this year um you know one of the best teams

In the state he was instrumental in that in that turnaround um High care factor a guy that always set the tone in the wait room a guy that worked his tail off non-stop he’s a film junkie all those type of things and I I gotta say if if

Joe Rossy didn’t love that kid it’s ridiculous that he’d be visiting him seven time seven times in person given how difficult it is to get to Gaylord it’s not like going to Atlanta where you’re going to see a kid in high school and you can see 150 other guys you’re

Going to Gaylord there’s one guy up there that you want to see and Joe Rossy went and saw Brady pretzl and I think one of the things that stood out to how many times seven times one of the things that stood out to me um in talking to

The high school coach up there is the emphasis that Joe Rossy puts on High character guys uh guys that are winners guys that that want to put in the work and uh and be uh part of something that’s bigger than themselves and he saw in pretzl uh the high intangible

Qualities that he wants in his linebackers and you can see in some of the linebacker play up there I mean they do some some really nice stuff at Minnesota or they did when he was there and I don’t know how good BR PR going to be in that defense but he thinks he’s

Going to be good and uh that’s a good place to start I know that Minnesota team from two years ago number 55 Mariano what’s his name he’s on the staff at Minnesota now I could see pretzl being that that type of player and pretzl you know interestingly on

Three with the on three rankings they have pretzl as a four star they have him ranked the number four player in the state of Michigan now on three takes all the rankings and puts them together for the industry rankings and he when you add him all together he’s a three star

But his his ranking ranges from number four at on three to number 22 at ESPN you know on three now has him as a national number 221 in the country for Brady pretzl and I don’t disagree with that he’s got some physicality um got the smarts you’re talking about so a

Nice addition there well we’ve talked about pretz laugh probably enough but your thoughts about other takeaways about what what Jonathan Smith said today and what Michigan state did coming down the stretch to finalize this class I I I shouldn’t say finalize Smith said today like he said at his introductory

Press conference that he plans to use the February signing date to add to this and he expects to find some players as he said he’s going to be turning over a lot of stones looking for players so they’re not done there and he say there’s going to be more coming via the

Portal but your thought your takeaways about what Jonathan Smith said today yeah um and it’s interesting that both of the top two highest rated commits according to on three are both instate recruits for Michigan State as they look to set the foundation there and in then

Inside of the state and uh and with the walkon out Michigan State added a pretty strong walk- on with Mac offers earlier this week out of Wisconsin and uh they’re about to add another walk on um out of Travers City later today so Michigan state has some solid options

With the transfer I mean the walk-on candidates getting guys with Mac offers lower level um Mac offers to pay their own tuition and come up to Michigan State and Michigan state has a lot to sell to Walk-Ons with uh Jonathan Smith’s story as a walkon himself and

Earning the starting rle at Oregon State and then one thing that the Wisconsin linebacker who PW committed told me was that Joe Rossy has a history of playing loons on his defense as well so that’s something that intrigued him so I think Michigan State can be strong in the

Walk-on Market getting guys who maybe can decide between Michigan State walking on and going down to the Mac with for a scholarship offer and the more type of guys that you can add like that just only improves depth and positions of need I think when you look

At Walk-Ons and like if you go back to what Mark Antonio did building the program I look back at one they didn’t have any linebacker depth that year Brandon Denson was a walk-on running back that’s a dude that no one heard about Antonio took him off the scrap

Heap no no disrespect to him and turn him into a real linebacker guy they could help win they had another guy from uh Southeastern Michigan and in Travis key I think he was from Monroe uh I’m not quite sure on that but that’s a guy

That was I mean he was not an NFL player by any means but but he was a hard edged safety that would come down and hit you uh you know if if he didn’t get stretched vertically he can make some plays on the ball and whatnot but there

Is a you know people don’t get excited about Walk-Ons but a lot of times these are guys that develop into kind of the not just a safety net of the program but sometimes the impact difference makers I think of uh you know Jonathan strahorn

If they didn’t have him as a walk on in that first Antonio recruiting class um I believe it was out of Oak Park but if they don’t have him they’re in trouble that’s a guy that developed into some somebody that could do do some really really good things and you throughout

That anonio area at least the early part when they’re building it they leaned on some of those guys and what I like about the philosophy is the earned never given is that these guys signed um but everyone’s on equal equal footing and they have an opportunity and a lot of

These guys that’s what they want they want an opportunity to do it at a big 10 School the other thing I think is a selling point is we saw 22 guys leave Michigan State through the portal um I know they’re going to try to keep as

Many as they want but you look at the at the trends throughout college football with coaching changes there’s going to be more guys that leave um during spring football um you know that don’t quite pan out there’s going to be guys that don’t like what’s going on in Winter

Conditioning or something like that that leave or wash out so those guys that are pw’s now uh might have a chance pretty earli in their career if if they put in the work and they show out they might have a chance to to be put on scholarship earlier than most Michigan

State’s got a lot of work to do in the trenches offensive line defensive line Michigan State’s class for what it’s worth right now rank number 55 in the country number 12 in the Big 10 out of 14 schools with one fourstar um and in the industry rankings

That being Nick Marsh if you put pretzle in there you know I don’t think on three does like their own school rankings and I wonder where that the pretzl a top 250 guy would nudge them in into those rankings they they go industry rankings

Which I which is one way to do it but I’d also like to see what on three would do with if they just don’t use the industry rankings not that it matters all that much but I’ve said this a few times top 10 means something top 15 means something top 25 means something

But top you recruiting classes ranked from 26 to 46 in my opinion they’re all the same just like when you look at the AP Top 25 current rankings you look at the other schools receiving votes is there really much difference between 26 and 34 not much there’s similar teams it

Comes down to like what you say are you getting your needs met and how did you do with evaluation which we won’t know for a few years and Player Development which we won’t know for a few years in general I think it’s important to stay

In that top 45 I’ve said over the years I put out there a couple weeks ago that I thought if Michigan state had a top 50 class that’d be that would be a really strong Hall and if they had gotten Tyler Cherry they would have been top 50 and

Uh they end up getting uh Ryland Jesse at the 11th Hour when Cherry went with Indiana and they didn’t get Cherry that was really close talking to some people down there Aiden Charles has a lot to do with that he comes in as a transfer portal guy with three years of

Eligibility Indiana gets a transfer portal with one year of Eligibility quarterback roor the kid from Ohio University so you’re Cherry you’re like okay do I go to the school that’s got a one-year portal guy or a three-year portal guy and that tip the scale so you

Get Childs you don’t get Cherry it all evens out and they’ll get a quarterback next year but that would have flipped Michigan State into like number 45 in the country for what it’s worth for a quarterback that cherry that I thought was pretty good me so in terms of

Fourstar recruits Michigan state has one Indiana had one Maryland had one Illinois had one ruers had two Minnesota had three Purdue had two Iowa had six Wisconsin had seven which is more for them usual than usual then you get up in the upper echelon you know Nebraska had

Six which is they’re getting back on track then Michigan had 15 Penn State had 13 Ohio state had 14 plus four four four five-star guys so there’s a drop off as there’s always been but Michigan State avoided having like a number 80 recruiting class like they had when with

John L Smith’s first class when he didn’t have much time to put something together and there wasn’t much left they salvaged a class that I think is going to be functional you add the portal to it and I I think they’ve done a really good job in the three weeks Paul I think

You got to look at the portal too just not not what they they’ve done but you could not in my opinion have done much better than what they did right here and you talk about you talk about missing out on Cherry you bring in you bring in

The the Ryland kid uh that’s a dude that they offered at at Oregon State so he’s not a reach on on on that part that’s a guy that was committed to to Utah State it’s a guy that they tripped in at Oregon State offered late in the process

Um you know he went with he went with Utah State because because they recruited him as hard as they did so this isn’t a guy this isn’t a guy that was uh you know off the scrap Heap type of deal this is a guy that they had

Lined up that they liked and uh you know you just never know what’s going to happen I think the parallel between this quarterback class and it’s too early to say if it’s going to be like Antonio’s first quarterback class but told he was scrambling around scrambling around they

Ended up bringing Kurt Cousins Nick F Nick fos um you know Keith niichel ended up coming in the difference being the difference being they had Brian Hoyer and NFL quarterback already in you know in in house but for Michigan State going to having zero quarterbacks in the class

To having three in in the span of two weeks and three guys that you look at and I watch it and I’m like okay these guys you can make a case for every single one of them child has obviously got a lot of star power he’s already

Proven it to an extent at you know at the at a higher level he understands the Oregon State offense it’s a perfect situation for a young building team for him to come in but um I love the leio I don’t know how to pronounce his last

Name you do but I like vovik V voic milic milovic and I really like some of his film I liked what um Jonathan Smith said about him in fact that you know like he can do a lot of good things but then he can throw it downfield as well

And I think he’s does some really accurate stuff I think he plays in a good system but you look at the the at the Ry and jet kid he plays at one of the biggest schools in uh you know in the San Diego area a school that according to Jason produce Reggie Bush

And Alex Smith Alex Smith so Bill Walton probably a lot of others too so maybe he’s got the bill Walton tinge that’s why he’s here I mean because ht’s legal but there goes Paul we don’t we don’t know but I mean he I like I like I like

His frame I like you know obviously shorts and t-shirts you don’t know but he he does some really good things that is a really really good late add-on quarterback and it’s not like I compare him to some of the guys that that um that the last staff you know got

Commitments from I’m like some of those guys to me they quarterback reaches you know and you’re like I’ll give the quarterback’s coach the offensive coordinator uh some benefit of the doubt because you know he’s got supposedly a good a decent eye for for quarterback talent but I I think Jonathan Smith in

The time frame that he had he killed it I think the comparison to the Kurt Cousins year I think is on point because Michigan State wanted Keith nickel didn’t hold on to him he goes to Oklahoma Cherry was only a three-week commitment three we twoe recruitment he

Goes to Indiana he’s an Indiana kid and for reasons we just talked about so when when nickel moves on Michigan state gets Kurt Cousins and fos uh cousins was a two-star guy with a western Michigan offer kind of reminds me of this situation Michigan state gets childes in

The portal they had couple weeks to put it together went after a four came up short I give him credit for coming real close Horseshoes and Hand Grenades you don’t get credit for coming in second in this but then you go get a couple flip flipable guys they found the

Most the best flippable guy in the mac milovic and a flippable guy in the west coast that they managed to keep secret not bad the other parallel too is like you look at what Michigan state did in that quarterback class that Nick FES came in well after signing day so it was

Like this is like a truncated period um you know so something fell through with Arizona State I think it was with with him right like Arizona I believe it was and uh so they they had a coaching change he ended up at Arizona later but

He had it was maybe it was Arizona State but there was a coaching change uh and uh and he wasn’t comfortable with the situation so he ended up going to going to Michigan State but the way they put that one together was pretty impressive um might have even been an Dennis

Ericson thing it it was a Dennis full circle you know who Dennis Ericson’s quarterback was Jonathan Smith go ahead yeah I mean it was a den it was a Dennis Ericson thing they didn’t Nick fos family didn’t trust Dennis Ericson is that it was yeah so but you know that’s

The thing that that just illustrates what the quarterback position is like you know you talk about the Cherry kid um you know being scared not scared but leery of Aiden Charles at Indiana like there’s something about being a quarterback it’s not about winning it’s like okay Michigan State got its plan a it’s

Absolute stud quarterback at Aiden child Indiana got its top wish at quarterback but like quarterbacks aren’t going to be the the bridesmaid you know they know I mean that’s the the the position traditionally before the portal that transferred the most so they’re not going to go into a situation where

They’re not heralded as the guy and I don’t think Michigan state was in a situation where they’re going to blow as much smoke at a at a high school quarterback as uh Indiana could saying you’re our guy you’re going to be the guy what do you think about the

Quarterback recruitment coming on the stretch and the Ryland Jesse thing took me by surprise I give credit to Michigan State for having that in the hopper and keeping that guy warm probably had to be honest with him you know we’re in on a guy in Indiana if it doesn’t fall

Through I that’s how it went down yeah I would assume so too and the way things played out uh he was on campus over the weekend and it was very quiet and I didn’t know about it and I’m sure either whether Michigan State asked him to keep

It quiet or not I’m sure that they preferred that he did um this late in the process you never know if teams out there looking for a quarterback could come in and convince him not to sign today and he kept it completely quiet um obviously Michigan State extended a

Scholarship offer to him at some point and he didn’t post that either so that like I said that could have boted well for Michigan State with other schools lurking and um now they have a three-man quarterback room and I think that also bodess well with the way you set up for

Future classes um when if you want to go and try to get a highly ranked like fourstar type of kid these guys may not scare him away on the surface and um you can you can try to stack quarterback classes but I really like the two that they brought in especially the Ball

State kid um and now I’ll have to check out this quarterback from out west as well today’s been such a busy day yeah and if you were to talk to a Michigan State fan who hadn’t followed recruiting at all these last couple weeks and uh or

Last couple months who are one or two guys before we start talking about transfers who are one or two guys that caught your eye that maybe we’re not talking about a whole lot that through your research and your interviews that you think are are intriguing guys as

Part of this class yeah I like a lot of the Oregon State commitments that came over following Jonathan Smith and the staff a lot of those guys had their recruitments go kind of under the radar a little bit not flat flashy type of guys just guys that visited Oregon State

Liked Corvalis committed and stuck to their business and uh stayed out of the way when it comes to um reporters and news and things like that so when they got up to East Lancing over the weekend it was kind of refreshing talking to a

Lot of those kids um a lot of those kids are dual sport athletes tight end Wyatt hook out of San Jose he told me uh he’s going to enroll in the spring because he’s got golf season coming up and he’s also got basketball season um there’s

I’m not blinking off the top of my head who it was but there’s wrestlers in this class there’s players who ran track um and Jonathan Smith up at the press conference today said when he was talking about McKai Frasier he mentioned that running backs better have defensive

Film um he didn’t mention it just like that but I’m paraphrasing but that’s something that I think is interesting and they like they’re going after versatile dual sport type of athletes and those guys usually develop well along the line and also another aspect with the Dual Sport guys is they haven’t

Had time to focus on one sport yet and a lot of times that makes a big difference when when you get in the waight room and focus on the playbooks and things like that narrowing down to one sport at the college level is when a lot of guys

Usually do make a big leap in their game you catch that he said about Frasier he said something like they better have defensive film I must have been typing some yeah iau it it was such a it was such a it was such a throwback to De

Anonio you know you think of like I remember those like those Signing Day press conferences with him you know you think about olivan Bell he didn’t get he didn’t get a scholarship offer as a running back by Central Michigan he was going to go to Central Michigan as a

Linebacker you know and Michigan they brought him in as as a running back gave him the opportunity as a short yardage guy I look at maai Frasier and they had a USC bound running back and Brian Jackson ahead of him uh they had a they

Had a a pretty dang good um you know like quarterback a running quarterback dual threat guy so he wasn’t getting a lot of carries they needed him more at his high school mckenny high they had five uh F they had five power Five Guys signed today um but it’s one of those

Powerhouse programs that that they had they had him playing every snap they could on defense because he was better at defense than Brian Jackson was you know the running back good lineer and uh you know at the end his his coach who’s now I don’t know where he’s going but

He’s not at that program anymore I’m assuming he’s moving up because he did so well uh in Texas High School Football which is a rat race but he was saying at the end a lot of schools were coming in after he committed to Michigan State as a running back continuing to inquire

After him as a as a linebacker before they thought he was undersized but he plays firm he plays nasty yeah and uh and he runs the ball that way too and he does man and and one of the things that those guys in Texas those coaches talk

About is uh Keith bonaa the running back’s coach about how good he is at developing Talent what his reputation is they remember him all the way back from Boise State some of the Texas guys they had there um you know Daman Martinez at Oregon State that’s a dude who’s a Texas

Guy from that um Dallas area the C like the same area he’s about a half hour away from mcken Texas where Frasier is and so you know Martin is Big Time All-American type at and uh and you look at some of the other guys that that

Bonaa has uh you know developed I had the I had Boise State UCLA game on the other night and uh and like the Genty kid um you know who’s I don’t know if he’s certain or not for Boise State but I’m like dang that kid is way better running back and people realize

Someone’s coached him up and uh you know so Michigan State and that High School coach at from mckenny said that uh you know that Michigan state has a real asset in uh in bonaa as a running back’s coach he called him one of the best out

There as a developer of talent and he feels really comfortable sending his kids here and that’s something like you know so the Dual threat the Dual nature of these guys the fact that they’ve been communicated with you know on a on a personal level with with a recruiting

Coaches you look at the kid that was committed to Utah State uh you know the Ryland Jesse kid you cannot get that stuff to work unless you really are communicate communicating and being honest with kids and this coaching staff is honest like the Antonio’s staff was

It reminds me a lot of uh you know you know like some of the stuff you’d see in the Maverick Hansen you know we’ve got a spot for you if a couple guys fall through we really want you we think you can play at this level if you come here

You will have an opportunity to to play um you will have OPP opportunity to work and maximize your potential so it’s not a sales pitch it’s not saying we can get you the NFL or or you know this or that or all the kind of stuff that Mel Tucker

Was selling the snake oil it’s real stuff and and talking to the high school kids talking to their coaches um the genuine relationship based recruiting it’s a big deal out there in this climate with everything being as transactional as it is uh there’s a lot of High School coaches that I’ve talked

To that trust the guys on this Michigan State coaching staff and that’s going to pay dividends in a place like northeastern Ohio where guys really really care about the guys that play for him the guys that are basically family and look how Maverick Hansen how functional he was and how many innings

He pitched when they needed that from him that’s a guy that was dying to come to Michigan State 11th Hour got him to flip from Western or Central or something like that and you and you might say he’s not an All-American okay but you need about 10 or 15 Maverick

Hansen on a roster and Smith is going to be valuing those type of guys you got to go in a couple minutes before we get before we go Jaden Walker linebacker from Portage is a guy that I think is vastly underrated now he committed to Bowling Green and then Michigan State

Offered him in September AR Barnett offered him credit of Barnett on that um they looked at senior film which is a an an a lost art another Dan Antonio thing you know I mean they he was on the radar committed to Bowling Green some senior the first two or three weeks of senior

Film and if you watch his film the guy’s quick he’s he’s uh with list about 6’3 or so um very well coached you know in terms of way he blows up block same foot same shoulder just like disengages and pursuit speed I mentioned earlier that he’s taller and as fast as Antoine

Simmons was and Antoine Simmons with the was the number six player in the state jayen Walker is that type of player and Simmons was a good college player um for him to be ranked number 21 in the state but but previously he’s like 28 or so uh

You sometimes people need to go back and watch senior film and and update rankings and so forth I am not shocked that USC came in late got an offer got us offered him got a visit from him and he’s he’s been committed to Michigan state for a long time but I’m not

Surprised USC came after him he did not sign today you might not be able to tell us all that’s going on with that whole situation but Jaden Walker how important is he to add to this class and your thoughts on his recruitment what’s going on there yeah Jaden Walker is a big

Recruit from Michigan State heading into the last signing day now and having Brady pretzle in the fold helps but they still want to have walker and linebacker’s a position of need and uh Walker was on campus the first weekend of December with Michigan State he uh has a really close bond with other

Commitments Nick Marsh and the Luni twins um and I think those relationships and things like that will bold well in Michigan State’s favor as is now he’s home from USC he took a official visit there the weekend after he was at Michigan State and I’m told that people

In his Circle really do love USC um there’s people in his Circle that are infatuated with the west coast and um they they’re really excited about the USC uper it’s hard to blame the kid especially as you mentioned being committed in the Mac until September uh he never really had a full recruitment

With power five schools chasing after him and with this lady interest from USC I think it’s really sparked his interest um from talking to people with close to him I think Jaden has a really good head on his shoulder so he’s going to handle this respectfully and um right now he’s

Kind of just torn between Michigan State and USC Michigan state with the proximity Factor obviously can maybe possibly get him back on campus in July or January I mean uh before he signs in February and that’ll be really tough for USC to do I think as the visit to USC

Wears off things will look better for Michigan State but uh they’re definitely a school to watch and uh he’s definitely interested in in USC here’s the problem um now that he’s extended it and hasn’t signed there’s going to be other USC’s coming after this guy if they look at

This film I wouldn’t be surprised I know a lot of schools value the portal and they might go to the portal first um and I don’t want to put ideas in anybody’s head not that any recruiting coordinators across the country are watching this but Walker’s that good I

Think and this another case of an old adage is you don’t want to be guilty of jumping over dollar bills to pick up dimes this is a dollar bill right here and to Harlem Barnett’s credit close to home looked at the junior senior film and they but problem is USC

And that is coming after him and that’s a it’s a good oldfashioned recruiting battle that’s a better problem to have than have him commit and sign today I mean with USC you know I mean that’s that’s the thing like if you got people in your family that are infatuated with

That the thing that hurt Michigan State with him being in that first weekend of of December with the official visit is Joe Rossy was not part of the recruiting effort and I think Joe rossy’s a dude that’s really down to earth he connects really well with players if Walker is

Able to build a relationship with Joe Rossi based on the kind of guy he is I think that Michigan State’s in good shape but if he had you know I I think the biggest concern yeah other teams could come in but my concern would have

Been is if he signed with USC today the other thing is is you know you look at historically the way recruiting is gone in in the state of Michigan a kid like that should have been a it should have been a battle between Notre Dame Michigan and Michigan State with Ohio

State possibly coming in there when you look at some some of the battles that have happened at Portage Northern in the past but I mean that’s that’s where I think you know people are sleeping on certain sections of the state and uh I mean kazoo Battle Creek it’s not like it

Was when it was TJ Ducket was there and little John flowers or some of those guys but that guy’s a good ball player and uh you know you look at guys that are have the frame to be the size linebackers that that Mel Tucker said he wanted that guy should have been and

Walker is quick and he’s athletic he plays a slot linebacker in high school and I think he could translate to being a slot linebacker in college and you know rossy’s defense can go from a 4-3 to a 4-3 425 depending on who you’re playing you know if you’re playing

Michigan um are they calling all right Jason’s got to go he’s got to do a talk show in Grand Rapids is that do you have do you want to go in that room see if anyone’s in there just find your find some area and and do your thing there

Goes Jason great to have him here he’s doing a great job to me he reminds me of like you know Walker Walker reminds me of a Tuan Jones type of dude the guy that you know like with Twan once he started out at that at that star linebacker kind of slot linebacker

Position then became a middle linebacker as he became physically mature he ended up being a really good one had a cup of coffee in the NFL uh really good linebacker but he’s if he fills out and he maintains the athleticism he’s going to be really Dynamic uh college player

But I I think Michigan State’s really lucky that USC didn’t seal the deal this weekend he’s got good change of Direction not only to follow the ball but also little slight change of direction to to to get off a block he can get off a block physically but he

Can also do it with agility throwing it all together nice player um another underrated player here I mentioned earlier that I think Jaden Walker is as is as good as Antoine Simmons was a top 10 player in the state I think Walker could be I think I consider him a top 10

Player in the state and there’s good players in the state nothing against some of the others Wyatt hook tight end from California 66 230 all right this guy’s ranked number 114 in California I’m telling you you watch this guy catch radius for days SKS

Cut um in his pass uh his pass routes at the top of his route makes good Cuts ball skills hands and when they tackle him old tuckle remember this Bob Oregon Bob Oregon was a tight end here in 1993 he was the most difficult guy to tackle

I’ve ever seen he looked like you know the world’s biggest fifth grader out on recess with six kid dude he fell forward man he he could never T he would have like six guys on him as he like an oak tree falling forward every single time I

Realized Wyatt hook has a lot of growing into his body at 6 at 66 230 but there’s some Bob Oregon highlights in terms of people having trouble tackling him all right number 114 in California I love Brendan parek as a as a as a prospect as a true freshman at Michigan State right

Now parich was number nine in the state of Michigan last year if Wyatt hook were in the state of Michigan I think he’d be a top 10 player number 119 number 114 California whatever the guys are tight end he’s got hands and these guys coming in from Oregon state did a great job

With tight ends at that program they’re going to highlight the tight end position at Michigan State a lot of two tight ends a lot of outside Zone he’s got a show he can block and it’ll be working on that and these guys going to coach him up on that but Wyatt hook out

Of California San Jose real nice addition of this class yeah he’s in the Silicon Valley area and that’s not necessarily a football Powerhouse area um I had a chance to talk to his high school coach who played defensive back at Alabama back in the day his high

School coach is crusty he reminds me of like you know he’s not like a guy you’d expect from the Silicon Valley area and he’s like oh always like you know he looks at Wyatt hook as like a you know a second son so he’s always harping on him

About what you need to do better you know what you need to get better at you know competing at the next level all the issues you’re going to face but I look at like a guy like Wyatt hook and he’s one of my favorite players in this class

Because of not the frame and he’s a weird dude like you mentioned the Bob Oregon comparison it’s weird because he has growing into his body to do but he’s always been bigger than everyone else around him you know and I think one of the things I appreciate about Wyatt Hook

Is even though always been bigger than the guys around him and faster in some some ways um he hasn’t rested on his Laurels you know so you talk about the world’s biggest fifth grader eighth grader comparison to me a lot of those guys are guys that rest on their

Athleticism you can tell with Wy hook that he continues to work and the way he catches the ball with his hands the routes that he runs nobody blocks like a tight end in in high school because it’s so hard to teach you know they put everybody either split them out wide or

Put them in the slot or whatever and and that that school did put him in as a HB back at times I know in talking to the high school coach that they didn’t have all of his blocking film on there uh but he’s got the frame block and that’s a

Lot different than than some of the guys that we’ve seen is big bigger slower wide receivers that have the narrow shoulders and don’t have the ability to be blocking tight end fact that this is a tight end friendly offense they know that they can recruit tight ends and the

Fact that they made him a consistent early recruiting priority tells me a lot about what Oregon State thinks that they have in Wyatt hook and uh I I think he’s another piece of evidence that shows me that the tight end position is going to be just fine at Michigan State and I

Think Michigan State with with the coaching staff with the offense that they run is going to develop into a school uh that consistently puts tight ends in the NFL and that that just feeds on itself once you get one or two of those guys in there it keeps on going

These guys do it the right way I love the way that they that the Oregon State offense the cohesion between in the Run game Operation and uh if you don’t block you’re not playing tight end you know even Jack velling a dude that’s a transfer coming in Danang good offensive

Player you know you compar him to Josiah price and I think that’s a good apt comparison but he’s much better Blocker in my opinion than Josiah price was and they’re not going to let you not block at Oregon state which is now they’re not going to not let you block it at

Michigan State um you know a guy like Malik Carr uh this would have been a terrible fit for him because he’s not on the field unless he’s blocking for John Jan Smith and uh I think Wyatt Hook is a guy that’s going to fit that bill um I

Think also it’s maybe not a bad thing that he’s not coming in early that was a debate with him and his coach his coach wanted him to push get in there early uh be on campus early and and hook wanted to play out his basketball season play

Out his golf season and for a guy at a developmental position like tight end I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing especially when you got a guy like Ving com coming in um I I think W Hook’s going to be a good one but there’s

Several guys in this this class that I think maybe it’s not a bad idea that they’re coming in late and and I’m starting to think that there’s some guys you want coming in early but some guys I think that counter acts what you want to do by bringing them in early especially

If they’re not going to be ready to play in that first year now Wyatt hook um a lot more skilled than Bob organ was nothing against Bob Oregan Bob organ was just a big 1993 you know Square shoulder guy that was difficult to tackle but this guy can plant his foot and make

Catches and all those things I was mentioning old tuck a minute ago he’s an old Bob Oregan fan old tuck calls in the Spartan mag live show and if you watch Spartan mag live show you know who old tuck is but what were you going to say

Were you going to say something else well I just there’s a lot of guys in this class that I like and going back to you know I hate the de Antonio comparisons but there’s so much similarity between the way they went about stuff the way they evaluated the

Way they believed in their own evaluations you know the way that they’re like okay I see this guy he’s my priority um you know he might not be ranked as highly as someone else but there’s a lot of tight ends ranked higher than than Wy Wyatt hooked but

They know what they want in this off offense and they went after him and I think uh that deis they snuck him out of San Jose but the but the evaluation you know I’ll go back to another one talking to Austin Clay’s coach the evaluation that they did with uh wide receiver from

Ohio go ahead right the evaluation they did with him is really good and then on the flip side the coach says that he is a good fit for Michigan State’s offense in what what they did at Oregon State you know his speed uh his toughness um

You know him him being a guy that can get over open Open Over the Top ball skills so you know like that’s one thing I really appreciate about Ohio is not only are you know Michigan State coaches looking for guys that fit them Ohio High School coaches are looking for good fits

For their players and and I think that’s another reason why you know when I talked about coaches being on the ground networking with High School coaches I’ve always found it in Ohio and it’s like this in a lot of places but Ohio especially they want their players to be

Successful they want their guys to uh to fit programs and you know I’m sure there’s other guys in the area that they would say hey Jonathan Smith Courtney Hawkins he’s not not a good fit um Austin clay he’s a dude that’s he’s skinny um but I’m not going to say he’s

BJ Cunningham but there’s similarities between him and and a BJ Cunningham when I look back and you see a guy from Ohio that was a little bit underrated because he played basketball and he played travel basketball in the summertime and Ohio is the one state in my opinion my

Personal opinion where wide receivers that play basketball and play travel basketball into the summer tend to get overlooked that’s one kind of a blind spot in Ohio but this is a first team all Ohio wide receiver um you go back and you watch the the first couple

Highlights of his huddle film and that’s against Cleveland Cleveland Heights um you know he had 129 yards against Cleveland Heights he had a 79 yard touchdown in there and he also had a a return for a touchdown Cleveland Heights is a team that puts power Five Guys out

Every single year Michigan state was always in there uh you know recruiting Cleveland Heights back in the de Antonio era so this isn’t chap liver that these guys are doing it against and he’s a first team all Ohio receiver I mean that that means something Jim I like him 6117

As an athlete I think he’s less BJ C Cunningham big body guy and more of a Jaden Reed type athlete that’s that’s a good I’m just saying in terms of basketball and why why they’re flying on the raadar but the Jaden Reed comparison is really good he’s a track dude uh he’s

A guy like skinny like Jaden Reed was um and I think once you know like he’s a guy that’s playing basketball right now he’s a dang good point guard too he’s going to lead probably leave that school as all-time steals leader all-time assist leader at that school and the

Other thing about him is he’s like one of those dudes that’s almost always every single game he has almost a triple double threat you know 12 points eight rebounds and and type of stuff you don’t see runaway dunks because he’s not flashy there’s no doubt in my mind that

He could dunk two-handed if you wanted to he’s got sticky hands he’s a hands catcher that’s something recruiting analysts don’t pay enough attention to and this is this is a guy that you know there’s a high care Factor there and uh I think he’s going to be I think he’s

Going to be pretty dang good and and he gets up to speed quickly like Jaden Reed like off the line of scrimmage or right on punt return catches it and gets up to speed quickly now Jaden Reed you know a tremendous worldclass play finisher that’s why he’s in the NFL remains to be

Seen whether he has that kind of special talent but as an athlete he’s kind of in that Jaden Reed category and he was committed to what Bowling Green and Michigan state gets on him late flips him in Ohio pragmatic makes sense Michigan State needs wide receivers

Makes a lot of sense yeah I mean that was one of the deal Courtney Hawkins and some Michigan State coaches reached out to coach High School coaches in the in the northeastern Ohio area with a listing guys that they thought maybe would be good fits for them you know so

So they’re talking to High School coaches if in the northeastern Ohio area you know this coach U Jonathan hunek was at Lakewood St EDS when the Dos were there you know he was the offensive coordinator there back in 2015 when Michigan state was the king in Ohio

Besides Ohio State you know able to pull guys out against NRE Dame pull guys out against Michigan and uh you know this coach was like yeah this is a guy that fits you he’s going to be you know he’s the he’s coach told me that he’s one of

The best kids he’s ever been around one of the hardest workers and they’re really excited that Michigan state is back active evalu like doing real evaluations on Ohio area Talent this is a guy that the high school coach said Michigan State saw him at Satellite camps ignored him Coach sent film to

Michigan State on multiple occasions he was completely ignored during the recruiting process but to Courtney Hawkins credit when they went out and they’re asking about uh you know prospects potential guys that could fit Michigan State because they want to get inroads back in North Eastern Ohio this

Is the guy that the coaches in that area were pitching and it’s not just one coach it’s other coaches you know bearing witness to the fact that hey this guy’s a real deal and that’s how they got Levan Bell years ago networking in in Ohio yeah I mean that was Mike

Trestle uh you know networking in Ohio but also having an inside tip from his dad dick trussle who was running back’s coach at Ohio State um at the time they liked Ohio State really liked um Levan Bell didn’t have room for him and uh I think Levan Bell or Kai Fraser kind of

Reminds me of Love Bell a little bit now with Austin clay number 39 in Ohio B on three number 51 in the consensus rankings um number three wide receiver in Ohio number one wide receiver in Ohio is tramar Harris Cincinnati whon Woods who’s going to to Purdue and Harris

Bigger body guy but he is a body catcher you’re talking about clay klay’s a hands Catcher And there’s a distinction if you’re a body catcher you going to have to learn to catch with your hands I know that sounds stupid Benny ended up being an NFL player Super Bowl and all that

But he was initially a body catcher and it took him a while so Jamar Harris going to Purdue has ability and has a frame but uh this guy ranked number three receiver behind him clay in some ways is a little more polished than his explosive number two receiver is dalen

Wilkins 63 out of Northmont Ohio he’s committed to Eastern Michigan he’s big fast smooth hands very good not sure how Eastern Michigan got that guy but dalen Wilkins is a different he’s a different it’s apples and oranges when you talk about a 63 receiver and a guy like Clay

They’re both good but clay number three receiver in Ohio I can buy that but number one going to Purdue got some work to do but Clay is a good one he belongs in the Big 10 and you know the thing about you look at winon Woods that was

An old stomping ground for Michigan State they didn’t always get guys from there they in fact they didn’t but they they were always in the top two or three for those dudes sometimes they got beat out for Notre Dame if Michigan State wanted to go into to a wi in woods I

Know harlon Barnett obviously not sure what his role is right now but that’s a guy that the Michigan State could have made a pursuit of especially with Purdue you know status with wide receivers right now because the offense hasn’t been good um you know it’s it’s down

Down a little bit but you look at I you look at at at Hawkins I’m sorry not Hawkins but um the kid from uh clay yeah Bria Midpark um just a really good athlete and you can see it on the basketball court when he’s doing when he’s in transition he is slight he’s

Like 170 would be generous right now but when he when he’s contacted he stays square and and he’s able to finish and transition you see it same thing in the football field there’s a couple times where he’s hit way early when he’s going up trying to High Point the ball and

He’s still able to maintain that concentration one of things this coach said to me is that not only he’s a good hands catcher but his eyes are always in the right place the eye discipline that he plays with on both sides of the football is impressive the thing that

He’s going to that maybe makes this a really apt comparison with Jaden Reed he’s going to really struggle initially with with those man-to-man release moves off the line of scrimmage and Jaden Reed it took time for him um I I think to develop the strength they needed to to

Get those release moves but um that’s that’s where it’s going to take weight room work for him and it’s going to take a little bit for him to to you know live up to his his ceiling but it’s a high one our’s high school Signing Day that’s

Only part of it the transfer portal a big part of it what I like about the transfer portal with Michigan State so far they’ve got five transfer commitments and to me they’re all like proven function college football players they aren’t somebody’s third string fourstar who

Used to be a prospect and it’s not like you know Tucker I mean he was aggressive and they and you know had a vision for it and and the number of portal transfer they went heavy into the portal was a lack of vision and then they went heavy

Into the portal and the number of portal players that actually panned out it wasn’t a real high percentage now they went great and got Kenneth Walker in year one that’s kind of like winning your firstand a blackjack you know then you think you’re going to win all your

Hands and Michigan State was ringing 20 a year you know you know third string guys from Wisconsin third string guys from you know Auburn and all that stuff Michigan state has five and they’re going to get more and I’m not saying they’re all going to pan out that they

Get in the future Aiden Charles everybody loves him as a prospect right TJ Sheffield coming in from Purdue what he have 100 career receptions I mean Michigan State needs wide receivers he’s got 100 plus receptions and he’s got over a thousand receiving yards and he’s

Done it every single year you look at a lot of the portal guys they have like two years and then a down year and then they hit the portal this guy has done every single year and he’s done it in different different offenses this is a steal and mich State needs receivers and

Some of the receivers they’ve lost into the portal this guy’s better than those guys that they’ve lost um Sheffield is a great addition it’s 5’11 originally from Tennessee I you know Michigan State went went out there got that guy Jordan Turner michigander from Farmington spot starter at Wisconsin you know big has

Some good size at like 612 25 something like that there uh you know some of his old coaches are excited about him getting a chance at Michigan State Michigan State needs linebackers solid chance jacobe wiman’s going to come back you have Turner in there Jordan Hall solid chance he’s coming back things are

Sounding good there Halliday we talked about this in the basketball game the other day that that gives you a chance to have a linebacker room which a month ago I wasn’t sure was going to happen but a guy that’s played college football and functioned Jack velling tight end of

The year in the Pack 12 of course he’s coming with the Oregon State guys they know who he is that’s a no-brainer we talked about him and today the big news quindarius dunan Edge Middle Tennessee State second team All Conference USA that’s what I’m talking about I if I’m a

If I’m a coach or putting together a roster I’m first of all looking at all conference mid Majors that’s for you Matt dorsy that’s what jacobe winman was I don’t need former fourstar you know divas that are coming in from Auburn Alabama and Georgia and Florida that that might look good in the

Funny Pages and they might fill the shirt well like Greg Brady the old episode 40 years ago dating myself with that now you could add a few of those at some point but the five that they have so far they’re not just throwing around scholarships like you get a scholarship

You get a scholarship you get a scholarship let’s get rid of all these guys we’re going to the portal no they’re doing it methodically effectively intentionally to use a word from the last couple years but I like I think all five of these guys are guys

That can function yeah and you look at you know you look like a Jordan Turner man he’s got a a connection to the state of Michigan you know like I know that Michigan state has done that a little bit in terms of some of the portal guys

The last couple years but every one of these guys is is connected and is vetted you know I don’t know enough about you know quindarius uh Duggin but um I’ll tell you what I watching some of this some of the Minnesota film and I mentioned this to you earlier today and

I I really believe it you know like some of the things that that Joe Rossy does on with the defensive line they do some you you know they do some some nice stuff where you got defensive ends dropping and whatnot but he’s got a linebacker background had 100 100 and

Some tackles his senior year in uh at Chattanooga uh at a high school in Chattanooga um he started out as an outside linebacker at Middle Tennessee State that’s kind of like you know like what he’s practicing he grew into a defensive end so he’s got some so he’s

Got a better idea of what some what to do in space I I think when you look at his stats this year the thing that stood out to me is he led the country among defensive lineman in pass breakups so that tells me that he can play in space

And he’s got a good anticipation and he kind of sees sees things really well he’s got a good reaction thing that’s going to help take away some of the round the line of scrimmage stuff uh and and it tells me also you can’t have 8 pbus as a defensive end unless you’re

Disciplined and you know you look at some of the guys that Michigan state has brought in on the defensive line um defensive event you know to Mei a day now you win a press conference with that guy you don’t win a ball game with that guy and he lacked discipline he fit the

Shirt you know and he was a guy that it sounds great you can control the sea Gap bull crap and uh and I don’t know why that was based on nothing against him because there there was there’s more film of Sasquatch B on the fact that

It’s based on the fact that he’s 300 lb and you know and he can run around and he was a five star when he was a junior in high school right so this going back to the stuff that we’re talking about nothing against him but real evaluation

Real evaluation about what you can do on a football field um you know there’s a lot of guys out there you know like that except for Jaylen Thompson the defensive line class you know you look at those guys and it’s like all hype yeah number one line defensive line class and the

Big 10 are one of the best uh one of the reasons why Michigan State’s recruiting class is ranked number four in the conference last year was a defensive line class but it’s full of posers in some ways you know like and it’s like okay is by job

Going to help you this year when is he going to help you is it worth paying six figures for a guy like that just to get a top 25 recruiting class and when I see guys like quindarius Doug Doug dunan coming in he’s coming in because he

Wants to because there’s a position in need and he’s a guy that I know is going to be able to play it if he’s if he’s if he’s healthy Matt dorsy our longtime friend uh the OG of uh Spartan ma football recruiting coverage you know he’s a big proponent of the lower level

Football that Mac level football those guys are ascendant you want guys on the rise not the retreads not the guy that’s been that started out at Al abama went to Liberty and as a graduate transfer has played maybe 10 games as a as a third Stringer and then decides to come

To your school and you’re like Yay he’s a 300 pounder I want guys that you can build I want guys that can produce and I think dunigan’s got two years left so that’s a big deal so I agree it’s a more of a pragmatic approach to the portal um

And Michigan State needs to make use of this portal because they’ve lost a lot of players and they’re trying to revamp the the roster without going like totally full bore portal but um they’re they’re uh Frugal with these portal offers and all five of those guys make

Sense yeah I mean because you Jonathan Smith’s got the attitude and his staff does as well as they want to be stewards of the program plus if you’re bringing in if your if your blanket offering the portal what and you’re trying and you’re saying that your message is a player you

Want to be a player development program what does that tell those guys if you’re bringing in selective guys that you know can help you right away and saying to the guys in the high school ranks okay we’re bringing in this one guy cuz he can help us right away but you’re going

To develop and you’re going to have a place in this program that makes a whole lot lot more sense and that makes your program a whole lot less transactional you have to use the portal but you got to do it effectively you can’t pay a guy like Jerick brousard to be six figures

To be your fourth leading rusher it just does not make sense and I I don’t think I don’t think Jonathan Smith’s the kind of guy I don’t think the coaches on the staff are the kind of guys that that are going to waste resources they come from

A program without a lot of them they’ve learned like Mark Antonio did when he was at Cincinnati to use resources effectively and uh and I won’t say these guys are good stewards of the program and it’s shown with the guys that they’ve offered there’s not reaches out there more and more indications that

He’s a good fit more and more indications that Jonathan Smith enjoys being here and he’s in enjoying getting some of this uh potential energy um angled in the right direction I think there’s a I think when you listened to him and you saw you know he’s not going

To blow smoke he’s not going to he’s not a hype guy but I could tell and him talking about like being pleasantly surprised or however he phrased it with with the rec recing class or how effective they were I think it went better than he expected you know being a

New guy to the Midwest being a guy that didn’t know these you know didn’t know a lot of stuff being a guy that didn’t have a defensive coordinator in place for a week and a half on on the job I mean the way Michigan state was able to

Do this this is phase one they’re going to continue to address in different ways and I honestly think because of the transfer portal because of how many guys are going out there that there are quality for your Maverick Hansen type of players out there if you look hard

Enough and they’re going to have to look under rocks and they’re going to have to watch senior film like Mark dantonio did incessantly when trying to to fill those last few spots in in the roster and maybe there will be some guys out there that end up being NFL players like Mark

Antonio brought in late a lot of times and the reason we mentioned senior film is a lot of these scholarship offers Nationwide are based on Junior film and camps and so forth so the senior film a lot of times gets pushed aside but there’s some guys in this class that are

Part of that senior film um Jonathan Smith um we’re seeing more and more you know when Allen Hower talked about when Jonathan Smith first got here Allen Hower had lunch or dinner it was ISO Hower and Smith and as Hower listened to Smith and ISO talk Hower said he just

Got a bigger bigger smile on his own face knowing that he was the right guy because there’s if if you’re alen Hower or Michigan State person that’s been around here for a long time it takes a certain type of mindset and ethic to get it going at Michigan State and Hower was

Looking for that type of guy knew he had that type of guy knew it even after listening to him with ISO and as every day goes by um a guy that can uh that uh can make it work in the landscape at Michigan State which is not easy but it

Can be done and 23 days in do not underestimate the fact that like you said and like Smith said today having to hire a defensive coordinator a very important decision and the candidates that he went over and the interviews within those the 22-day period that he also has to put together his first

Recruiting class the time that that took to do those things at the same time um if I you know there’s other coaches around the country that have a harder time recruiting to their school but terms of juggling a lot of things in 22 days nobody in the country had more work

To do than he did yeah absolutely and that coordinator is pretty solid Joe Ross is a great is a great pick and and ling grin’s a really good coordinator the offensive coordinator one of the things I wanted to say is like we talk about them being a player development

Program and I posted about this on the message board today uh this morning part of being a player development program is identifying guys that fit your program and identifying those guys effectively because you can’t develop players within the construct of what you are doing scheme-wise on either side of the ball

Unless you really get out there and do your homework uh you talk to people not just you know not just High School coaches not I mean not just trainers or you know or hype men or that type of stuff but High School coaches teachers um whomever basketball coaches other

High School coaches in the area that’s how you find out whether guys are really going to fit what what you think think they’re going to fit and I got a feeling that that there’s more watching of a continuous copy film in the evaluation process than just watching highlights

Because that’s when you know uh you know whether guys are the real deal or whether they’re taking plays off and uh you going back to Austin Clay’s coach he said one of the things like you get when you get Ohio High School football player a kid from North Eastern Ohio is you get

A guy that cares about his teammates for the most part there’s exceptions every rule works his tail off he’s not going to embarrass you and he’s going to play football the right way that’s what they strive to teach um you know and you look

At clay I wanted to say this too cuz I forgot about it but I want when you watch his return film yeah it’s so efficient you know you see a lot of guys like you know we’ve seen return film forever I’m going all the way back to

Johnny Adams I think he had eight return touchdowns but he’s running all over the place when when uh that dude when he runs back the ball it’s efficient and and I think you see the basketball player in him you see the driver you see the guy that understands where his lanes

Are and you know his eyes are in the right place like I was talking about earlier these there’s no reaches in this class to I mean maybe there will be moving forward but I really like what Michigan state did um there’s a lot of credibility and usually if you take the

Time and get those kind of credible guys if they’re willing to work together like we saw with de Antonio’s first class and some of the guys that stayed for a second class I you’re able to accomplish bigger things and maybe your talent level should enable you to I got some

More opinions on a lot of these guys maybe we’ll get to that in Spartan mag live or some other time but we’ve we’ve gone a long time here today Paul really appreciate your Insight and your work uh it’s fun watching these initial days of a new regime coming in and trying to get

Their things going it’s it’s nice seeing team it’s nice seeing them appreciate it’s nice seeing a coaching staff a head coach appreciate the resources that he has and use them effectively instead of like all the all the constant like chatter behind the scenes of of you know

If only I had this or if only I had that or if only we rais this amount of money and you know I think one of the things that Dan Antonio said to me when at Smith’s signing when he was introduced as said coach is that in Antonio’s

Research he learned that that Smith is a guy that handles difficult situations that come up unexpectedly and in a very um measured and uh in stoic approach but he’s able to handle Sudden Change in a in unexpected events really quickly and I I think when what Danny Tony was

Trying to say about that is like this is there’s no other era of college football where there’s more unexpected twists and turns with all the different moving parts that you’ve got uh with a transfer portal uh you know n and all that that type of stuff but uh Jonathan Smith

Seems to be like that steady at the rudder type of dude and or at the tiller and uh you know you can even see that today he didn’t overhype this class he didn’t you know predict that these guys are going to be in New Year’s Day bowls

Or anything like that but he you know he said that they signed a class that met their needs to some extent for the first part of the recruiting class and they’re going to continue to work to meet those needs and that’s that’s refreshing instead of hearing them you know like

Talking about this TP 25 class that really shouldn’t have been ranked in the top 25 because it didn’t meet me needs now moving forward they’re absolutely going to have to replenish the four-year interior defensive line group and that’s that’s something that we haven’t talked a whole lot about today but you go back

To that Maverick Hansen the one thing I appreciate about dantonio if there was one scholarship left in any class it was going to a guy that maybe could help them in the interior defensive line in Michigan State absolutely failed abjectly miserably recruiting 4-year interior defensive lineman and where

Michigan state is at right now during the during the Tucker era it never flagged during the Antonio era and you can see that by the fact that there’s so many de anonio era guys that you know kind of Towing the Rope Simon Barrow is still a guy that’s holding up the tent

And uh they got to get back to doing what Michigan state did and not being portal um you know not not being so portal heavy because right now Michigan state is in the same situation defensive line wise interior defensive line wise that they were at the end of the johnell

Smith ERA with an over Reliance on Joo um defensive lineman and they got to break that cycle and that’s going to be what I’m going to be looking forward in phase two I don’t know how many guys are out there but they need to continue to

Bring in guys that they think can help out and maybe this is like linebacker in the first year of the Dan Antonio era you know he brought in Greg Jones they needed way more linebackers than GRE just Greg Jones but they weren’t going to bring in guys that they didn’t think

Could get the job done maybe that’s going to be the case with interior defensive L but Michigan state has to find ways to break that portal dependency on interior DL uh it’s absolutely critical for the for the long-term health of this program and Jonathan Smith says they’re going to

Continue to recruit their own players some of them out of the portal right I’ve heard that there’s still discussions with Derek Haron and Zion young I mean those are guys that are that uh other schools are very much interested in as they should be because there’s not a lot of those guys out

There hard to find good big men in the portal and those are a couple that have been productive and Michigan state is not in a situation where that you can let productive big men get away so there’s still discussions going on there uh intriguing and I think you asked the

Question about Ohio I know you asked the question about Ohio and I think it was an answer to this when he said he’s looking forward to getting out there and meeting these coaches he says I haven’t met a lot of them yet but there were there was a genuine nature aspect to

That which is what this program needs in terms of getting out there and learning who the coaches are and understanding the importance of that did you catch that yeah and and I think probably he has talked to some of those guys I I know that he’s talked to some of some of

The guys in Ohio and the one thing that I’ve always found refreshing about Ohio High School football coaches is they might have a rooting interest and a lot of those guys grew up Ohio State fans or whatever but they want for by and large and there’s exceptions always for this

But most of the guys that I’ve come across at coaching Ohio they want what’s best for their players they want their players playing in programs that fit them best that kind of lend themselves to be successful and and I think one of the things that you see when you when

You when you invest as a as a college football program in high school football coaches in listening to their opinion in in looking at their players they give back to you and it’s always been with Michigan State a very reciprocal relationship with Ohio state with Ohio you know High School football

Coaches Dan Antonio and his staff did it better than anyone to the to the extent that you know like I mean they spent a lot lot of time down there and and it was and it was a good deal but Michigan State I don’t know if they can get back to that

Level but there’s a genuine interest a genuine want by Ohio High School football coaches um to get Michigan State back in there and and one of the things that that that Clay’s coach told me he’s like hey there’s you know look at how many Ohio guys that Michigan has

Right now yeah that’s how they began turning it around yeah look at how many guys that Michigan has from Ohio it’s one of the one of the reasons they turned it around go he said you know he’s like they’ve got as many probably as many as Ohio state has right now and

Uh he didn’t come out and say that that’s the reason why that Michigan has been beaten down Ohio State I mean there’s other reasons for it as well but he said that anybody that’s not recruiting Ohio anybody that thinks there’s not talent in Ohio is just lazy

And Michigan State right now has fewer Ohio scholarship players on the football team than any time in history I mean I can’t go back and look at the 1930 roster I’m sure they didn’t have as many players some but percentage wise you can comfortably go back and say definitely

In the 85 scholarship era and at least back in into the mid-60s they’ve never had this few Ohio Players I can’t imag the ones that they have are are still the Antonio recruits the time that I spent cover Michigan State football even going back to the John all Smith area I

Can never remember a time when there was like less than 10 Ohio guys in a program no no I mean it’s ridic you should have like 20 25 to 30 Ohio guys every single year and you know I was watching c one of the Clay’s Clips you know as a return guy it’s

Nasty Whata weather out there and he’s going out hand catching a ball in cold and sleep and rain with in traffic um you know that stuff that stuff matters and I don’t usually make predictions about whether guys are going to be return men because I don’t think it’s

Like always very apt uh for high school because it’s a different trajectory uh you’ve got different guys running down at you but the way his eyes are the way he stays Square his efficiency of movement in the way he sees the basketball floor I would not be

Surprised if he turns into a really good Return Man the college level all right appreciate your your Insight input Paul appreciate all the subscribers spartanmag.com become a spartanmag.com subscriber for continued analysis and coverage Signing Day and the and the February Signing Day and into spring practice portal coverage basketball

Coverage all of it become a mager we’d love to have you over there you to say something last shout out Noah sprunger he’s done a great job you know we said Jason’s done a great job Noah’s done a great job with social media and and getting on those those breaking stories

And keeping us informed so we can balance family stuff um Jake laswa U probably fantastic writer good person better person um he’s done some really good stuff for us I really appreciate his help and then Kenny Kenny Jordan who is here today Kenny’s Dependable he’s been around and uh kudos to Kenny for

Staying through this whole Nick Marsh Saga from the very beginning to the end um but Kenny’s done a nice job as well so I really appreciate our younger staff members and uh and I need to remember to tell him that more often thanks for mentioning that I I usually say that in

Spart mag live and I forgot too today it’s very busy day you guys did a great job this morning and we’ll have more to spart mag.com coming up so uh for Paul conik Jason KP Kenny Jordan Jake lcow and no sprunger and all the cast of thousands at spartanmag.com uh

Appreciate all the people that are tuning in and and giving us a like at the channel here especially my guy kandik and um to all the subscribers thanks for tuning in for kandik my name is Jim compron publisher spartanmag.com you’ve been watching the vcast from Spartan Stadium on Signing Day with the

Spartans and the Future Spartans for Spartan mag.com