Michigan State fires head coach Jonathan Smith

Michigan State has fired head football coach Jonathan Smith, Spartans Illustrated confirmed on Sunday.

Update: Michigan State officially announced Smith's firing at 3:01 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday.

ESPN's Pete Thamel was the first person to report the news publicly.

Sources told Spartans Illustrated on Friday and Saturday that MSU Vice President and Director of Athletics J. Batt was leaning toward firing Smith with an announcement expected Sunday, but Batt kept things close to the vest throughout the process.

Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reports that defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Joe Rossi will serve as interim head coach. Sources have confirmed this to Spartans Illustrated as well.

"The 2025 football season has not lived up to our shared standards for Michigan State Football," Batt said in a statement. "While that does not fall solely on Jonathan Smith, it's become necessary to make a coaching change in order to chart a new direction for the program."

"We are appreciative of Coach Smith and the manner in which he represented Michigan State with class. Throughout a difficult season, the team continued to compete. While their efforts ultimately didn't result in enough on-field success, they do speak highly for their character."

Michigan State President Kevin M. Guskiewicz praised Smith's character and noted that it was a difficult decision to let him go.

"This was not an easy decision to make," Guskiewicz saud "I want to thank Coach Jonathan Smith for his service to Michigan State University and for his commitment to our student-athletes. He is a man of very high integrity and I wish him success in his future endeavors. We will continue to support our players and staff during this transition and future of Spartan Football."

Michigan State will now be responsible for paying Smith’s buyout. Smith signed a seven-year, $52.85 million contract with MSU in December of 2023. Smith just completed his second season in East Lansing, and his contract is 85% guaranteed, which puts the buyout number at over $32 million as of November 2025, which will be paid to Smith in monthly installments from December 2025 through January of 2031.

However, Smith’s contract also stipulates that he must make his “best efforts” to seek employment elsewhere, and if he gets another coaching job, that buyout number will decrease as Michigan State will pay the difference between his compensation from MSU and his compensation at his next job. If the compensation that Smith receives at his next job exceeds what Smith would have received from MSU, the university would be relieved of any further obligations to pay Smith. It is also possible that the two parties can negotiate the buy-out number down to a smaller dollar amount and potential lump sum payment.

Michigan State suffered an eight-game losing streak in Big Ten play during the 2025 season that started on Sept. 20 at USC and was not snapped until the season finale on Nov. 29 against Maryland. The Spartans defeated the Terrapins by a final score of 38-28 at Ford Field in Detroit to earn their only conference win of the campaign. MSU finished the season with an overall record of 4-8 overall, including a 1-8 mark against Big Ten competition. This will be the fourth season in a row in which the MSU football program misses a bowl game. 

Through all 12 of its games played in 2025, Michigan State ranks 15th in the 18-team Big Ten in points allowed per game (29.9), 12th in points scored per game (24.6), 14th in yards allowed per game (378.7), 15th in rushing yards per game (122.8) and 13th in total yards per game (345.5).

In Smith’s first season at Michigan State, the Spartans finished with a record of 5-7 and the program missed a bowl game for a third consecutive year. However, all five of those wins were vacated due to recruiting violations under former head coach Mel Tucker, which, unbeknownst to Smith, resulted in the use of at least one ineligible player in 2024. Wins from 2022 and 2023 under Tucker and interim head coach Harlon Barnett were also vacated, with 14 victories in total over that time period being removed from the official record.

Smith finishes his short tenure in East Lansing with an unofficial coaching record of 9-15, including a mark of just 4-14 in Big Ten play. However, with the vacated wins, that official record drops to just 4-15 overall and 1-14 in the Big Ten. His career college coaching record now stands at 43-50 overall unofficially and 38-50 on the official record books after the vacated wins. 

"Michigan State football has a proud history, a history that includes National Championships, Rose Bowl victories, Big Ten Championships, and a College Football Playoff appearance," Batt said. "The standards for our program have not changed. It is our expectation that we compete for championships.

"While we will have a new coach next season, we must also do more as a department to support the program. President Guskiewicz and I are fully aligned to take the necessary steps to position our program to compete at the highest level. We are committed to providing an increased level of donor investment, department resources and enhanced infrastructure to effectively and efficiently deploy those resources. Michigan State has an incredibly passionate and loyal fan base, and we will build a program all Spartans can be proud of."

Smith was hired by MSU on Nov. 25, 2023 by then Athletic Director Alan Haller. After an extensive search by Haller, his team and search firm TurnkeyZRG, Smith took over the Spartans following Tucker’s termination. 

Michigan State fired Tucker for cause on Sept, 27, 2023. The decision followed a USA Today report on Sept. 10 of that year revealing that Tucker was under investigation for sexual harassment allegations made by Brenda Tracy, a rape survivor and activist who had worked with MSU’s football program on sexual violence prevention. The same day the report surfaced, the university suspended Tucker without pay while the Title IX process continued. On Sept. 18, Haller issued a notice of intent to terminate Tucker’s $95 million contract for cause, citing moral turpitude and conduct that brought public disrespect to the university. As referenced earlier, defensive backs coach Harlon Barnett finished out the 2023 season as MSU’s interim head coach.

Prior to his stint at MSU, Smith spent six seasons at the helm of Oregon State, his alma mater. Smith compiled an overall record of 34-35 with the Beavers. He was the 2022 Pac-12 Co-Coach of the year, along with Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, after leading OSU to a 10-3 record. 

When Smith took the job at Michigan State, it was largely looked at as a strong hire by both the national and local media, and by fans alike. However, due to a lack of resources from the school, talent deficiency within the roster and the general inability to make coaching adjustments and win games, among other issues, Smith did not work out in East Lansing. Fans quickly grew restless with the lack of emotion that Smith showed and the lack of identity that the team had under Smith’s tutelage. There were not many signs of improvements regarding the on-field product from week to week for long stretches of the season. Fans made their voices heard on social media, booed the team at certain points during games and were even heard chanting  “Fire Smith” in Spartan Stadium during the loss to rival Michigan and loss to Penn State. 

At the time of Smith taking over the Spartans, it was clear that it was going to be a long rebuild in order to make the team competitive in the Big Ten and nationally after the way Tucker left the roster and culture in the locker room. Smith led the MSU program with class and did a good job of rebuilding that culture, as it was evident his team did not quit on him despite the struggles it had in 2025. That was not an easy or enviable task, and it can certainly be argued that Smith was not given enough time to turn the program around. However, the college football landscape is quickly and constantly changing, and it is a “win now” environment due to factors such as the transfer portal, NIL and revenue sharing. Ultimately, Batt and MSU have decided to go in a different direction.

Now, Michigan State will be looking for what will be its third full-time head coach since the 2023 season began, and is in the market during an extremely competitive year with jobs open at Penn State, UCLA, California and more, with additional jobs likely to open as well. Additionally, LSU, Virginia Tech, Florida, Arkansas, Auburn, Oklahoma State, Stanford and Oregon State, among others, have already announced new head coaching hires.

With that in mind, Michigan State might already have its next head coaching target in mind, with Pat Fitzgerald expected to be a person of interest. Stay tuned to Spartans Illustrated.

Sources also tell Spartans Illustrated that a team meeting take place at 2:45 p.m. Eastern Time.