Canzano: Chasing down Jonathan Smith

Former Oregon State coach goes 1-on-1 at Big Ten Media Day.

Jonathan Smith talks at Big Ten Conference Football Media Days. (Photo: JohnCanzano.com)

INDIANAPOLIS — I caught up with Jonathan Smith on his way out of Big Ten Football Media Days on Wednesday. The Michigan State coach spoke on the big stage, then did a panel interview with the Big Ten Network, and now he was standing with his feet to the fire in the tunnel at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Dirty, rotten, scoundrel?

Lousy bum?

Or none of those things?

I asked the former Oregon State coach to help explain his decision to ditch Corvallis for Michigan State. Was it about getting to the safety of the Big Ten? Why did Smith dump his Beavers’ gear at Goodwill? And what was with his team’s flat performance in the Civil War game and, later, showing up at an OSU postseason baseball game?

“It was really, really hard to leave,” Smith told me on Wednesday. “Really hard. You leave a place with those types of people, players, and community who had done so much for me and my family. But from a professional and business side, we felt like this opportunity fit me.”

The Beavers were facing a storm of uncertainty and a Mountain West Conference-heavy schedule in 2024. It became evident that Smith had options and wanted no part of that. His agent positioned him for the Michigan State job and he took it. I still believe had Smith been more patient he could have ended up at Washington or UCLA, but his decision to bolt to East Lansing fit the “any port in a storm” proverb.

Still, his departure stung Beavers’ fans. It didn’t help that the Oregon State coach dumped his team-issued orange and black gear at a Goodwill drop-off location on the way out of town.

“Probably in hindsight, not great timing,” Smith said of the Goodwill drop. “It’s something I’d actually done every year. We get so much gear from the school. They just outfit you with so much you can’t wear it all. (Equipment director) Steve McCoy, one of the best in the business, just outfits you so well that you can’t wear it all.

“We’ve done that every year. We collect what we will continue to wear and give some to Goodwill. Those weren’t my only (OSU) pieces. I still have some Oregon State gear and I will cheer for them for the rest of my life.”

Will all the OSU fans cheer for Smith next season?

Hardly.

When I posted a photo and video of Smith to Twitter on Wednesday the initial replies weren’t favorable. One person wrote: “I’m already tired of hearing his voice, knowing what I used to think was authentic and genuine tone is just a coach who is good at sales.”

Another Beaver fan offered: “I honestly hope Oregon kills them as much as I hate saying that.”

A third quipped: “Dead to me.”

The Beavers were a no-show at the Civil War football game last November. I pressed Smith about the game, asking whether his eventual departure to Michigan State played a role in the loss. Oregon State was flat that night. Quarterback Aidan Chiles, who soon left for East Lansing himself, didn’t play a snap.

Did Smith mail it in? Did he coach that final game differently? What role did his impending career move play in the dismal 31-7 loss?

“None,” Smith told me. “Not at all. No difference at all. It was a short week. Besides that, it was all the same.”

Getting left behind stinks. I spoke with several people at Big Ten Football Media Days about the predicament that Oregon State and Washington State find themselves in. None of them blamed Smith for leaving Corvallis or Beavers’ fans for being angry.

As Rick Neuheisel told me on Wednesday: “I can understand why Oregon State is not happy about anything. It’s a miserable card they’ve been dealt and it’s not right. Both Oregon State and Washington State were top-15 teams last year, and suddenly they’re trying to figure out a schedule.

“The No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball draft was an Oregon State Beaver, and now they’re an independent who is barnstorming next season? It’s not right.”

Smith’s departure rankled some OSU fans. After all, he was one of them. The walk-on turned starter turned head coach was in it with them — until he wasn’t. The Pac-12 had splintered. The climb back was going to be a grind. But at least the Beavers had Smith, the ultimate grinder, on their side.

Then, he was gone.

On Wednesday, Smith agreed to meet with me. I had questions and suspect he knew I would have flown to East Lansing to get answers. Near the end of our interview, Smith turned the conversation to the Oregon State baseball game he attended during the postseason.

“I have a great appreciation for the place,” he told me. “I will forever continue to cheer on the Beavs. We got over to a baseball game in Lexington and —”

I cut Smith off.

He was there, but wearing Kentucky’s blue colors, wasn’t he?

“I was not wearing blue,” he said. “I wasn’t wearing blue. It was a black shirt.”

Was he rooting for Oregon State?

“100 percent,” he said. “I love Mitch Canham and what he’s done over there. Some of the beauty of it was that they were playing a night game so we could get there. Me and DVD (director of football operations Dan Van De Riet) took our daughters. It was a daddy-daughter date. And Mitch Barnhart, the former Oregon State AD. He’s there. It worked out well besides the end of the game.”

College football is a business. It can be cruel. Oregon State and Washington State know this better than most. The Pac-12 splintered amid failed leadership. An ineffective commissioner and his bumbling band of presidents blew it. Their ineffective actions caused a cascade of issues for two schools, in particular.

Smith’s departure to Michigan State is largely viewed as a reasonable professional move by industry insiders. At the same time, it’s a painful reminder of all that happened to Oregon State.

Smith and I shook hands on Wednesday. We’ll see him again when the Spartans travel to Eugene to play Oregon in the Big Ten opener. Smith and I then turned and went separate ways down that stadium hallway. A security guard who witnessed the exchange asked me: “What was that? Some kind of secret conversation?”

It wasn’t. But neither of us wanted to have the exchange in front of the media scrum. I’m not sure the Michigan State media contingent would have cared, or even understood. And frankly, I don’t think Smith would have been as candid with a sea of television cameras and microphones trained on him.

I asked the questions.

He answered them.

This wasn’t the first time I bumped into Smith in Indianapolis. Our last meeting here took place several years ago when Wayne Tinkle’s basketball team was playing in the Elite Eight. Smith and his son grabbed a late flight and flew in to cheer for the Beavers. They didn’t even have a hotel room, so after the game, the father and son duo just rode electric scooters around the city all night.

When I encountered Smith at the airport for our 6 a.m. flight, his hair was windblown and his face was red and chapped. He had a blast on that trip. I remember thinking at the time that Smith was a ‘forever’ guy at Oregon State.

I wonder now if forever exists anywhere.

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