MSU's Alan Haller introduces Jonathan Smith
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SportsTranscript
00:00 (dramatic music)
00:02 - Let's go State!
00:11 (audience applauding)
00:16 - Well, good afternoon.
00:20 I'd like to welcome you to what is an exciting time
00:26 for Michigan State and our community.
00:29 I'd like to start with a few thank yous.
00:32 First and foremost,
00:33 to our current football student athletes.
00:36 You fought through a year of adversity,
00:40 you showed up every day,
00:41 you've given maximum effort,
00:43 and you've made us all proud.
00:45 Thank you to our Board of Trustees
00:48 for allowing me to do a thorough search.
00:50 Thank you to President Teresa Woodruff
00:54 for providing support through this process.
00:58 And an extra thank you to our passionate alums
01:03 and our donors and the entire Michigan State community.
01:06 Throughout the season, you've proven
01:10 your loyalty was incredible.
01:12 Your support was incredible,
01:14 even in times of adversity.
01:16 And when I was out doing this search,
01:23 the candidates spoke about the loyalty
01:26 of the Michigan State fan base.
01:28 It did have an impact on our candidate search.
01:31 And finally, thank you to the Athletic Department.
01:35 This search was a consuming process,
01:37 and you all continue to do the great work we do
01:41 in Spartan Athletics.
01:43 We had a great fall,
01:44 and our winter programs are off to a great start.
01:48 I'd like to thank a few individuals separately.
01:51 Kristen Mackley, Cody Cox,
01:56 Matt Larson, Ashton Henderson,
01:59 Epiphany Clark, and Jennifer Smith.
02:02 And Jennifer, thank you so much for your teamwork
02:07 and dealing with me.
02:08 She's somewhere out here.
02:09 But Jennifer kept me on task.
02:11 I kinda got off a little bit,
02:14 and we've done some really good teamwork together.
02:18 I would not have been able to complete this process
02:20 without Jennifer Smith, so thank you.
02:24 At the beginning of this process,
02:26 I had conversations with three key stakeholder groups,
02:30 a key group of donors and alums,
02:32 a key group of alumni, former student athletes
02:35 that included Steve Smith, Lorenzo White,
02:38 Benny Fowler, Kurt Cousins, and Jimmy Ray,
02:42 and 14 current student athletes.
02:45 It was from those conversations
02:49 that we developed the criteria for the search process.
02:52 Many of the same priorities emerged
02:55 across the three groups.
02:56 They wanted a man of character,
02:58 someone who would develop authentic relationships
03:03 and cares about their players on and off the field.
03:05 They wanted someone who would be committed
03:10 to building something special, recruiting student athletes,
03:15 and developing them as players and people.
03:18 They wanted someone who would engage the community,
03:22 motivating not just the student athletes,
03:24 but the greater community,
03:26 the fan base and program stakeholders.
03:28 And they wanted a coach with a proven track record,
03:33 experienced coaching in big games and at the Power Five level
03:38 and with a vision for what's required
03:41 to have success at MSU.
03:43 Finally, in my conversations
03:48 with the football student athletes and alums,
03:50 both current and past,
03:52 they stressed the importance of someone who believed
03:56 in football should be tough,
03:59 physical, and innovative,
04:05 building on the history
04:06 of what MSU has traditionally been,
04:10 from Biggie to Duffy to Perlis
04:14 and to my guy, Coach D'Antonio.
04:19 Tough, physical football has always been a part
04:23 of Spartan football.
04:24 As I mentioned at the beginning of the search process,
04:28 we would be thorough,
04:30 with approximately 12 candidates interviewing at least once.
04:33 There was tremendous interest in this position.
04:40 Michigan State is absolutely viewed
04:43 as a great job in college football.
04:47 It was over the course of this process
04:49 and with a focus of the established criteria
04:52 that Jonathan Smith emerged as our leading candidate.
04:54 First, he can obviously coach.
04:57 Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2022,
05:03 three straight ballgames,
05:04 18 and seven over the last two seasons.
05:09 His style of play will connect with Spartan fans.
05:14 Over the last few weeks, I've watched a lot
05:17 of late Saturday night Pac-12 games.
05:19 And I appreciate the way his teams play.
05:24 His teams are tough and physical,
05:25 but also creative in their play calling and their schemes.
05:28 He's committed to developing student athletes
05:31 as players and men,
05:33 understanding that's their process
05:35 and it requires hard work and there are no shortcuts.
05:39 And there's a chance for him to be a great coach
05:43 and there's a genuine care for the student athletes
05:46 as people, that was evident during the search process.
05:49 The other thing that stood out is how much he spoke
05:53 about community and his family investment in the community.
05:56 It's no secret that Tom and Lupe Izzo
06:02 and their family are the standard of community investment.
06:05 But Jonathan spoke about it too
06:08 and getting to meet Candace and the family,
06:12 it's clear it's a priority for them as well.
06:14 I could immediately see them fitting in our Spartan family.
06:19 His family roots are out West,
06:21 but there's no doubt in my mind that Jonathan and Candace,
06:25 Robert, Bella and Charles
06:29 will quickly make East Lansing their home.
06:33 Over the course of the process,
06:34 not only did we develop a connection,
06:37 but came to realize we had a common understanding
06:40 of what we wanted to achieve
06:42 in the vision for Spartan football.
06:44 I followed up with a number of people
06:46 in the college football industry
06:50 and to a person, they echoed the same thing I was seeing.
06:52 And Coach D'Antonio was a great sounding board
06:56 through this process.
06:58 He did his own research
06:59 and came back with similar information.
07:01 And Jonathan also spoke with Coach Izzo
07:03 and they had dinner Sunday and I sat next to them
07:09 and I listened to their conversation
07:12 with a smile on my face, knowing we got the right guy.
07:16 So to the entire Smith family,
07:20 welcome to our Spartan family.
07:22 Thank you for believing in Michigan State University
07:26 and Spartan athletics.
07:28 To Candace, Robert, Bella and Charles,
07:31 thank you for sharing your dad and your husband.
07:34 We couldn't be more excited for what the future holds.
07:38 And so without delay, please welcome Jonathan Smith
07:42 as the 26th coach of Spartan football.