But here’s something that really chaps my hide. Aiden Chiles did a podcast several months ago where he spoke of the conversation he had with Jonathan Smith when he found out he was leaving.
I am paraphrasing here, but Chiles said something to the effect that Smith said to him: “Would you rather play in front of 70,000 fans or 35,000 fans?” as he made his case for Chiles to follow him to East Lansing.
Watching Smith leave was hard enough. But hearing him recruit against OSU is like a knife in the back.
OSU took a chance on Smith. The Beavers invited him to walk on when nobody else would. They took a chance on him as a quarterback. They gave him a degree. They gave him his first coaching opportunity and 15 or 16 years later took a chance on him as a head coach.
Beaver Nation took a chance on Jonathan Smith and all we wanted was for him to take a chance on us.
I am a Duck alum but I pray at some point soon life is going to quit kicking OSU in the nuts, you do not deserve it. I pray you go 11-1 and make the playoffs next year.
Smith paid the Oregon State back by leading a team to a 11-1 record and a Fiesta Bowl win. Smith was not given a degree, earned his degree. Smith was not given his first coaching job; he was sought after, interviewed, and hired. Smith brought the nutrias from out from purgatory. All nutria fans and alums owe Smith a huge "Thank You!"
Why not move onto a program where there’s a direction and more money? He will be gone in three years anyway then you can get him back. Osu is used to that.
John, it pisses me that people continue to criticize J. Smith for doing precisely what any of them would have done in his shoes. There is never a good or easy or pleasant way to separate. Somebody wins and somebody loses. It's time to be realistic, get over it and look ahead. Windshields are bigger than rearview mirrors.
And it pisses me off that JS apologists refuse to see that reasonable Beaver fans understand that he made a sound business decision. What we will never forgive is the way he did it. And saying "it was a really hard decision" is absolutely meaningless. He said nothing in this interview to change minds.
Sound? How so? It was a chicken-sh*t thing to do. Barnes extended a very good contract. He really won't make any more at MSU. And OSU was much more secure for Smith long term. He could have had a lifetime contract. MSU will cut him loose after one losing season. I think it was a terrible business and family decision by a coach who had started believing his own headlines
Probably not one losing season...they have no shot at a winning season this year or next. There are 10 teams in their conference who are better than MSU and another 5 that are pick'ems. It's going to be an uphill fight to respectability.
You shouldn't break up with a girlfriend over text, quit a position at work over email, drop out as a presidential candidate over Twitter, and you shouldn't lie to everyone like you are their forever guy then jump on the first plane and covertly try to flip players and coaches.
Just cannot root for the guy. Yes, it’s a business. Very clear. But to leave like that, in a time like that? Hope Michigan State gets clobbered week in and week out for his tenure.
I was watching the panel with JS on the B1G network and about half way through I had to switch away. So much underlying anger, feeling of betrayal. And I'm a Duck fan.
I don't understand the need to continue to vilify Smith. He made a decision many of us didn't like.I imagine most of us have made decisions that other people thought were wrong, were upset about, disagreed with. But continuing to be upset about what happened months ago makes no sense to me. Let's let it go folks, and move forward. Go Beavs!
80% of the people in Smith's position would have made the same choice. I can understand why OSU fans were so upset. They gave him his chance as head coach, although given his performance as O-Coordinator at UW, he was going to get an opportunity someday-although likely starting at a place like Fresno State.
Thanks for at least not categorically and simplistically claiming that everyone would've done the same thing in the same circumstances, unlike some other commenters. That said, 66.478% of all statistics are made up. I don't hate Smith for what he did, but I no longer have any interest in whether he's successful or not.
Thanks John for the update. I have been waiting for your report.
I am a multigenerational Beaver who have followed and watched Beaver football since the late 60's. The Beavs are my #1 team
I will go against the grain here and say that I totally appreciate what Jonathan Smith did for Beaver football. Smith totally changed the culture, from a crater...way below ground with nothing but ashes... to a national contender. Put yourself in his place knowing what we know now about the situation OSU finds themselves in and how far Smith came as a coach in 6 years. I am a Beaver fan through and through but I believe Jonathan Smith is one of the best college coaches out there and will be very successful at MSU or wherever he ends up.
Views and being mad at Smith will continue so let’s all forget him and the bad tase WE ALL HAVE ABOUT HIM—-AND SUPPORT COACH BRAY, HIS GREAT STAFF and the players who want to be BEAVERS AND WIN.
Yes! What we are committed to do is buy tickets and go to games. That will matter!!! My kiddo graduated last year so it’s not as easy as the past, but it is the one thing we can do to support this program, GO!
Dropping his gear at Goodwill was not "bad timing." It was an blatant display of a lack of emotional intelligence. To not see the difference between "doing it every year" and doing it on his way to Lansing, Michigan is egregious.
Great article, John...your last line sums up not only football but everything it seems, loyalty is really hard to come by these days. Can't say as I blame him, just didn't appreciate how everything went down with timing, coaches and players. He would have cleaned us of everything if he could, luckily we had Bray that decided to stay and try to put things back together.
As Dwight Schrute says in the 2005 “Halloween” episode of The Office: “Would I ever leave this company? Look, I'm all about loyalty. In fact, I feel like part of what I'm being paid for here is my loyalty. But if there were somewhere else that valued loyalty more highly, I'm going wherever they value loyalty the most"
I completely disagree with everyone would have done what Smith did. This isn't a corporate gig with no strings attached. This is bigger then that, and OSU made J-Smith. His lively hood and family welfare were not on the line, he has already made generational wealth.
This was a who are you in your core decision. He will fail at MSU because he is a weak person...
It's tough being a fan because you root for a team/school out of passion and years of emotional connection. You don't receive any sort of payment for being a fan, it's just part of who you are.
That makes it hard to fathom that the individuals who you are actually rooting for are just mercenaries. It's just their job - and like any one of us approaches a job, it is a means to an end where you are always looking out for what is the best opportunity.
Being "a fan" by definition means you are emotionally tied to the team, the product. If you think that disloyal staff (or players) diminish your emotional experience, you have every right to root against them, figuratively hate them. The fans pay the bills. We have the right to feel however we want, whatever feeling fits the situation.
I was not suggesting that fans aren't entitled to feel as they wish. Without fans sports as we know them don't exist. You do help validate my point though about the wide disconnect between individual staff and players who are primarily pursuing their best interests, and the fans who view those very same actions as "disloyalty."
As a long time OSU fan, I'm not as spun out as most. I've had time to process and reflect and I'm over the departure of Coach Smith. I really like where Beaver football is at with Trent Bray and his new staff. Getting back to CJS, I'm surprised his recruiting at MSU is so underwhelming for the 2025 class so far. MSU has 2 big time boosters, Mat Ishbia and Steve St Andre. Spartan fans must be concerned about the mass transfers and lackluster recruiting class under Smith. Regardless, I will be rooting for MSU when they play the Ducks.
The only really good football coach that ever stayed put at either Oregon or Oregon State by choice in my lifetime (other than going back to the Cecil Andrus days at OSU and Len Casanova at Oregon) was Mike Bellotti in Eugene.
Every other winning UO and OSU football coach took what they perceived as better job offers, including Erickson and Pete Riley at OSU and Rich Brooks, Chip Kelly and Cristobal at UO.
Probably not intended, but made me smile. Cecil Andrus for Dee Andros and Pete Riley for Mike Riley. Especially the Cecil Andrus reference. Born in Oregon, later governor of Idaho and Secty of the Interior. Perhaps he got his coaching chops directing interior linemen?
Bellotti only stayed at Oregon because USC didn't give him what he asked for when he interviewed there. Coaches almost always entertain interviews--it's one of the only ways they get raises to stay, and it keeps their name hot for potentially better jobs. Besides, all coaches get tired of hearing their fans and boosters complain and take shots at them for winning seasons that aren't "winning enough." They stay loose, for good reason.
It’s hard to hate on this guy.
But here’s something that really chaps my hide. Aiden Chiles did a podcast several months ago where he spoke of the conversation he had with Jonathan Smith when he found out he was leaving.
I am paraphrasing here, but Chiles said something to the effect that Smith said to him: “Would you rather play in front of 70,000 fans or 35,000 fans?” as he made his case for Chiles to follow him to East Lansing.
Watching Smith leave was hard enough. But hearing him recruit against OSU is like a knife in the back.
OSU took a chance on Smith. The Beavers invited him to walk on when nobody else would. They took a chance on him as a quarterback. They gave him a degree. They gave him his first coaching opportunity and 15 or 16 years later took a chance on him as a head coach.
Beaver Nation took a chance on Jonathan Smith and all we wanted was for him to take a chance on us.
I am a Duck alum but I pray at some point soon life is going to quit kicking OSU in the nuts, you do not deserve it. I pray you go 11-1 and make the playoffs next year.
Smith is a bright guy, OSU awarded him a degree he probably earned.
He and staff revived the program after the Gary Andersen debacle.
His overall record at Oregon State was 34-35.
No, not hard when you promise to stay, then bail when the first offer of more fame comes along. Lost all respect for me.
GO DUCKS!!!!
Smith paid the Oregon State back by leading a team to a 11-1 record and a Fiesta Bowl win. Smith was not given a degree, earned his degree. Smith was not given his first coaching job; he was sought after, interviewed, and hired. Smith brought the nutrias from out from purgatory. All nutria fans and alums owe Smith a huge "Thank You!"
Again, GO DUCKS!!!!
A total trader, and I suspect a lier as well.
I always suspected him of bartering and reclining. Whew!!! Thank heavens you didn't accuse him of being a traitor and a liar.
He betrayed us. Taking the job was only part of it. Taking our players was another. Leaving the fight was a third. I'm so over him.
Why not move onto a program where there’s a direction and more money? He will be gone in three years anyway then you can get him back. Osu is used to that.
John, it pisses me that people continue to criticize J. Smith for doing precisely what any of them would have done in his shoes. There is never a good or easy or pleasant way to separate. Somebody wins and somebody loses. It's time to be realistic, get over it and look ahead. Windshields are bigger than rearview mirrors.
And it pisses me off that JS apologists refuse to see that reasonable Beaver fans understand that he made a sound business decision. What we will never forgive is the way he did it. And saying "it was a really hard decision" is absolutely meaningless. He said nothing in this interview to change minds.
Sound? How so? It was a chicken-sh*t thing to do. Barnes extended a very good contract. He really won't make any more at MSU. And OSU was much more secure for Smith long term. He could have had a lifetime contract. MSU will cut him loose after one losing season. I think it was a terrible business and family decision by a coach who had started believing his own headlines
Probably not one losing season...they have no shot at a winning season this year or next. There are 10 teams in their conference who are better than MSU and another 5 that are pick'ems. It's going to be an uphill fight to respectability.
The
You shouldn't break up with a girlfriend over text, quit a position at work over email, drop out as a presidential candidate over Twitter, and you shouldn't lie to everyone like you are their forever guy then jump on the first plane and covertly try to flip players and coaches.
Other don'ts:
Tugging on Superman's cape
Spitting into the wind
Pulling the mask off the Lone Ranger
Messing around with Jim
It pisses me off when people pretend to know that EVERYONE would've made the exact same decision in a particular set of circumstances.
Bray didn't get on the plane with him. He said it didn't feel right. It wasn't right.
Business is business, right? Like Hyman Roth said.
Then again, look what happened to Hyman Roth.
If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't have done that. I would not have. Never. No way.
You get it! Finally, someone with some common sense. Ducks went through 3 coaches before Dan Lanning. Coaches and players owe fans NOTHING!!!!
Al, you are making a ridiculous claim, first of all. It's ok to have an opinion, but don't get pissed at the world for not sharing it.
Just cannot root for the guy. Yes, it’s a business. Very clear. But to leave like that, in a time like that? Hope Michigan State gets clobbered week in and week out for his tenure.
And hope his tenure is short as he finds it hard to coach at MSU, a school who he means nothing to and will dump him in a heartbeat
Hardest decision of the year:
Oregon vs Michigan State
Who do I root for?
Maybe they can both lose?
I hope the Ducks score 47 and it ain't enough.
Business decision or not, I hope he fails at Michigan State. He left us high and dry when we needed leadership the most.
I was watching the panel with JS on the B1G network and about half way through I had to switch away. So much underlying anger, feeling of betrayal. And I'm a Duck fan.
I don't understand the need to continue to vilify Smith. He made a decision many of us didn't like.I imagine most of us have made decisions that other people thought were wrong, were upset about, disagreed with. But continuing to be upset about what happened months ago makes no sense to me. Let's let it go folks, and move forward. Go Beavs!
Again and again Beavs fans explain, it not that he left, it's HOW he left...
So just stop the disingenuous quip "I don't understand..." because you aren't putting any effort to understand
80% of the people in Smith's position would have made the same choice. I can understand why OSU fans were so upset. They gave him his chance as head coach, although given his performance as O-Coordinator at UW, he was going to get an opportunity someday-although likely starting at a place like Fresno State.
Thanks for at least not categorically and simplistically claiming that everyone would've done the same thing in the same circumstances, unlike some other commenters. That said, 66.478% of all statistics are made up. I don't hate Smith for what he did, but I no longer have any interest in whether he's successful or not.
Thanks John for the update. I have been waiting for your report.
I am a multigenerational Beaver who have followed and watched Beaver football since the late 60's. The Beavs are my #1 team
I will go against the grain here and say that I totally appreciate what Jonathan Smith did for Beaver football. Smith totally changed the culture, from a crater...way below ground with nothing but ashes... to a national contender. Put yourself in his place knowing what we know now about the situation OSU finds themselves in and how far Smith came as a coach in 6 years. I am a Beaver fan through and through but I believe Jonathan Smith is one of the best college coaches out there and will be very successful at MSU or wherever he ends up.
Views and being mad at Smith will continue so let’s all forget him and the bad tase WE ALL HAVE ABOUT HIM—-AND SUPPORT COACH BRAY, HIS GREAT STAFF and the players who want to be BEAVERS AND WIN.
I know I will
Joe
Yes! What we are committed to do is buy tickets and go to games. That will matter!!! My kiddo graduated last year so it’s not as easy as the past, but it is the one thing we can do to support this program, GO!
Dropping his gear at Goodwill was not "bad timing." It was an blatant display of a lack of emotional intelligence. To not see the difference between "doing it every year" and doing it on his way to Lansing, Michigan is egregious.
Great article, John...your last line sums up not only football but everything it seems, loyalty is really hard to come by these days. Can't say as I blame him, just didn't appreciate how everything went down with timing, coaches and players. He would have cleaned us of everything if he could, luckily we had Bray that decided to stay and try to put things back together.
As Dwight Schrute says in the 2005 “Halloween” episode of The Office: “Would I ever leave this company? Look, I'm all about loyalty. In fact, I feel like part of what I'm being paid for here is my loyalty. But if there were somewhere else that valued loyalty more highly, I'm going wherever they value loyalty the most"
I completely disagree with everyone would have done what Smith did. This isn't a corporate gig with no strings attached. This is bigger then that, and OSU made J-Smith. His lively hood and family welfare were not on the line, he has already made generational wealth.
This was a who are you in your core decision. He will fail at MSU because he is a weak person...
" He will fail at MSU because he is a weak person" doubtful but he is smart enough that being a power 4 coach>than not being in a elite conference.
It's tough being a fan because you root for a team/school out of passion and years of emotional connection. You don't receive any sort of payment for being a fan, it's just part of who you are.
That makes it hard to fathom that the individuals who you are actually rooting for are just mercenaries. It's just their job - and like any one of us approaches a job, it is a means to an end where you are always looking out for what is the best opportunity.
Being "a fan" by definition means you are emotionally tied to the team, the product. If you think that disloyal staff (or players) diminish your emotional experience, you have every right to root against them, figuratively hate them. The fans pay the bills. We have the right to feel however we want, whatever feeling fits the situation.
I was not suggesting that fans aren't entitled to feel as they wish. Without fans sports as we know them don't exist. You do help validate my point though about the wide disconnect between individual staff and players who are primarily pursuing their best interests, and the fans who view those very same actions as "disloyalty."
As a long time OSU fan, I'm not as spun out as most. I've had time to process and reflect and I'm over the departure of Coach Smith. I really like where Beaver football is at with Trent Bray and his new staff. Getting back to CJS, I'm surprised his recruiting at MSU is so underwhelming for the 2025 class so far. MSU has 2 big time boosters, Mat Ishbia and Steve St Andre. Spartan fans must be concerned about the mass transfers and lackluster recruiting class under Smith. Regardless, I will be rooting for MSU when they play the Ducks.
I agree. It’s still the Ducks.
Never a missed opportunity.
Very good article.
Smith is the rule, not the exception.
The only really good football coach that ever stayed put at either Oregon or Oregon State by choice in my lifetime (other than going back to the Cecil Andrus days at OSU and Len Casanova at Oregon) was Mike Bellotti in Eugene.
Every other winning UO and OSU football coach took what they perceived as better job offers, including Erickson and Pete Riley at OSU and Rich Brooks, Chip Kelly and Cristobal at UO.
Probably not intended, but made me smile. Cecil Andrus for Dee Andros and Pete Riley for Mike Riley. Especially the Cecil Andrus reference. Born in Oregon, later governor of Idaho and Secty of the Interior. Perhaps he got his coaching chops directing interior linemen?
Good God- I was 0-2 on that one.
My Uncle was a political ally and good friend of Cecil Andrus in Orofino, Idaho-I should have known better.
Bellotti only stayed at Oregon because USC didn't give him what he asked for when he interviewed there. Coaches almost always entertain interviews--it's one of the only ways they get raises to stay, and it keeps their name hot for potentially better jobs. Besides, all coaches get tired of hearing their fans and boosters complain and take shots at them for winning seasons that aren't "winning enough." They stay loose, for good reason.
Bellotti also turned down The Ohio State University. Just saying.
No, he didn't. He never was offered the job, much less turned it down.
So it had nothing to do with Belotti's roughly $42K/month PERS pension?