Michigan State football: Jonathan Smith sees Spartans on right path with work still needed

EAST LANSING – One down, one to go.

And with less than 20 days until Michigan State football officially kicks off the Jonathan Smith era, the new coach got a chance Saturday to see where the Spartans are at the midpoint of preseason camp.

The verdict?

“I thought we were a work in progress,” Smith said after practice Monday. “I think each day, you make some strides, and then you have a setback in a day or two when you know more install comes and maybe some more flaws. You're trying to learn about individual players or schemes and (both) sides of the ball.

“So I feel good of where we're at and really the progress we're making.”

MSU opens the season at 7 p.m. Aug. 30 against Florida Atlantic (Big Ten Network), with two more weeks of work to flesh out the depth chart before attention turns to game preparation.

Smith said the Spartans got about 100 plays in during Saturday’s closed scrimmage at Spartan Stadium, including “quality reps” on offense, defense and special teams. A second, and likely final, scrimmage (also closed to media and public) is planned for this Saturday as players jockey for starting jobs and critical roles.

“When I say quality, we're learning about where we're at,” Smith said. “And it wasn't flawless by any stretch of the imagination. But it was really good work to kind of recognize where we're at after, at that time, 11 practices. And so this is a huge week moving forward.”

Some positions already are solidified, barring injuries – Aidan Chiles at quarterback, Jack Velling at tight end and Tanner Miller at center are three of Smith’s former Oregon State players who appear comfortably headed for starting jobs. Same goes for defensive end Khris Bogle, linebacker Cal Haladay and defensive back Dillon Tatum on the other side, as well as returning kicker Jonathan Kim and punter Ryan Eckley.

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As far as ongoing battles, Smith pointed to a restocked linebacker room, particularly the inside spot, on defense and on offense a young-but-deep cadre at wide receiver as positions where the second scrimmage could deliver some separation between starters and second-string players. He added that senior wideout Montorie Foster is currently nursing an injury that does not appear to be long-term or signiciant, which opened opportunities for others to shine Saturday.

“We definitely got some guys that are going to start, but not at every position. I mean, this thing is competitive,” Smith said. “And we talked even last night – as a team, we want to be a squad that we've got multiple guys who can go in the game. We want to be playing full speed with great effort, and once in a while, you're going to get gassed and feel confident with the next guy going into the game. And that's what these next couple of weeks are about.”

Velling, a junior transfer who followed Smith and much of the coaching staff from Oregon State in the winter, said he can feel the intensity starting to build toward the season-opener as more and more of the packages are installed and the work progresses move from practice drills to game simulations.

“We don't really talk about it, but we all know it's coming soon,” said Velling, who last week was named to the watch list for the Mackey Award that goes to the nation’s top tight end at the end of the season. “It's great having these scrimmages. We can kind of see where we're at, and it's great competition against the defense. I just try to focus on each day. But, for sure, we know FAU is coming, and we're ready for them when they do. But we're taking it a day at a time and getting better every day.”

New assistant Brian Wozniak, a former Wisconsin tight end who coached the position at Oregon State alongside Smith the previous six years, explained that players – especially those trying to make a case for playing time and key roles – need to maintain that short-term mindset coming off a scrimmage.

“I think your job is not to put too much stress on yourself. You know what you got to do,” Wozniak said. “The more you stress out about it, the tighter you're gonna play. So to me, if I'm a player, I'm just doing my process that I've done that's helping me. How I study, what I study, what film I'm watching. If I want to separate myself, one, my process better be elite, and two, just go about that process and trust it.

“I tell those guys all the time, I don't need Superman to show up for the scrimmage. … Just give the best version of yourself. And I think that's how they gotta approach it. If they approach it where they're walking on eggshells, man, I think that's where you see some guys that are afraid to make mistakes. That's not what we want."

Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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For openers: Owls

Matchup: Michigan State (4-8 in 2023) vs. Florida Atlantic (4-8 in 2023).

Kickoff: 7 p.m. Aug. 30; Spartan Stadium, East Lansing.

TV/radio: Big Ten Network; WJR-AM (760).