Time for MSU to fire Smith -- now
Sunday, October 29, 2006By Bob Becker
The Grand Rapids Press BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Try to stick with me on this math lesson.
Going into Michigan State's game with Indiana here Saturday, the Hoosiers were last in the Big Ten in scoring defense and rushing defense and 10th in total defense.
But Michigan State gained only 66 rushing yards on them and scored 21 points, the last 14 coming after it no longer mattered.
Indiana was 11th in rushing offense and 10th in total offense.
But the Hoosiers gained 446 yards and put 46 points on the Spartans.
The numbers don't lie. And they point to one conclusion.
John L. Smith needs to be gone. Not at the end of the season, and not next week. Today. Right now. They should change all the locks so he can't get in his office Monday.
And if Ron Mason doesn't have the guts to do it, well, then he probably needs to leave a forwarding address as well.
There are reasons why patients with debilitating diseases sign 'Do Not Resuscitate' forms. They want the pain to go away.
So does the Spartan nation. Smith's tenure in East Lansing has been a waste of time and money. And at $2 million a year, mostly money.
I hate to use a political comparison, but what the heck. Has the MSU program gotten any better since Smith took over?
Sure, it wasn't all that good when he came in from Louisville. But they didn't pay him top dollar to come in and learn on the job. He walked in the door as one of the highest paid coaches in the conference, which means there were expectations for him to start making a difference immediately.
But Michigan State continues to go nowhere. Too many coaching decisions have fans scratching their heads: Fourth-and-2 and you pitch instead of run your 260-pound back up the pipe?.
And too many penalties and bad decisions show that whatever Smith has been selling, his Spartans haven't been buying.
Michigan State leads the Big Ten in only one category. Penalties. And they extended that lead considerably Saturday. Usually at the worst times.
Smith lost this team a long time ago. But it took until Saturday's performance at Indiana for even the most staunch Spartan supporter to see the writing on the wall.
And no, I don't want to hear about the miracle comeback at Northwestern last weekend. It was a wonderful display of courage and commitment.
But because the Spartans had struggled for so long, nobody wanted to ruin the day by asking the obvious question: How did you allow Northwestern to scored 38 points on you in the first place?
Northwestern is the only conference school still behind Indiana in total offense and scoring offense. Yet the Wildcats and Hoosiers together scored 84 points on the Spartans. Throw in Illinois and that total jumps to 107.
I have never heard an MSU fan ask for miracles. But how long is too long for for a guy with six zeros in his contract to bring respectability?
State had trouble getting going against Idaho. They gave away a huge lead to Notre Dame. They lost to Illinois. They lost to Indiana. They needed a miracle comeback to beat Northwestern.
That's being respectable?
No, it's inept coaching and a lack of motivation from a guy who has always put himself first.
Last week, after his team wrapped up the greatest comeback in NCAA history, he took almost an hour to come to the interview room and then talked for all of 48 seconds.
Instead of using a rare opportunity to praise his team, collectively and individually, for their truly remarkable effort under very difficult circumstances, instead he, in effect, told those who had had him on the hot seat to shove it.
He's just not the guy. How else can you say it?
Michigan State doesn't want to go on another coaching search, and they sure as heck don't want to eat some $4 million in salary and other compensation.
But what other choice is there? If attendance falls 5,000 a game for the two remaining years on his contract, the revenue lost will exceed Smith's severance.
I know I'll still get letters from Michigan State fans insisting I hate the Spartans. Isn't life simple when you go around wearing blinders. I have never seen a problem solved by ignoring it.
Even if State wins its final three games -- possible, but not probable -- Smith is the wrong man in the wrong job at the wrong school.
It's time now to see if anybody in East Lansing has the guts to make it right?
