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Smiling John L Smith (Arkansas Interim HC, former Spartan screwin' it up)

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    Coach John L. Smith's MSU years
THE FIRING
  • THE RECORD

    22-23

    With three games left. (OK, technically, maybe four.)

    THE BREAKDOWN

    John L. Smith's four-year tenure at Michigan State:

    ? Big Ten: 12-17.

    ? Vs. Michigan: 0-4.

    ? Vs. Ohio State: 0-4.

    ? Vs. Notre Dame: 2-2.

    THE PATTERN

    Smith's teams always start stronger than they finish:

    YEAR START FINISH TOTAL 2003 7-1 1-4 8-5 2004 4-3 1-4 5-7 2005 4-0 1-6 5-6 2006 3-0 1-5* 4-5
    * And counting ...


    THE HIGHS

    ? His 8-5 record in 2003 -- most victories ever by a first-year MSU coach.

    ? Planting the flag in '05 at Notre Dame Stadium.

    ? Coming back from a 38-3, third-quarter deficit for a 41-38 victory at Northwestern this season, the biggest comeback in Division I-A history.

    ? 19,340 feet -- as in Mt. Kilimanjaro, which he climbed in the summer of 2004.


    THE LOWS

    ? Blowing a 17-point lead in the final 6:27 at Michigan in 2004, then losing, 45-37, in three overtimes.

    ? Tying U-M in '05 with a 74-yard fumble recovery for a TD, but missing a 37-yard field-goal attempt in OT. The Wolverines converted a 35-yarder for a 34-31 victory at East Lansing.

    ? Failing to pad a 10-point lead heading to halftime at Ohio State in 2005. The Spartans' field-goal attempt was blocked and returned for a TD after they couldn't get enough men set in time. They lost, 35-24.

    ? Blowing a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter to Notre Dame this season for a 40-37 loss in stunned Spartan Stadium.

    THE MEMORIES

    How we'll remember the John L. Smith era, which started Dec. 19, 2002:

    ? "L" -- One in his name and a lot more in his record.

    ? His good ol' boy ways, the accent and cowboy boots and such -- not exactly the prototype for a Big Ten coach.

    ? His wife's battle with cancer.

    ? Players' continuing off-the-field problems with the law.

    ? Smith's halftime explosion on ABC after the botched field-goal attempt at Columbus: "The kids are playing their tails off and the coaches are screwing it up!"

    ? Missed opportunities, like starting seasons strong but finishing weak, the blown leads -- and not to mention Drew Stanton's no-bowl career.

    ? Slapping himself in the face after this season's homecoming loss to lowly Illinois.

    TWO CENTS

    Just how'd the Spartans get on WJR, where more people can hear them than Tigers games?
  • For the record How John L. Smith has fared during his four seasons at Michigan State and during his 18-year career as a head coach. YEAR OVERALL CONF 2003 8-5 5-3 (T-4) 2004 5-7 4-4 (T-5) 2005 5-6 2-6 (9th) 2006 4-5 1-4 (T-8) MSU 22-23 12-17 Louisville ('98-02) 41-21 25-9 Utah State ('95-97) 16-18 12-5 Idaho ('89-94) 53-21 34-11 TOTALS 132-83 83-42
    (.614) (.664)
Simon says: Stay green
  • Michigan State e-mailed football season-ticket holders this message from school president Lou Anna Simon:

    "It is important that you, as a season-ticket holder, hear directly from me on the day we announce that coach John L. Smith will not coach beyond this season.

    "While we have a focus on the future, it is very important that we have an equal focus on the remaining games of this season. The players and coaches deserve our enthusiastic and visible support at these games. A clear showing of Spartan Pride will make a dramatic statement far beyond the stadium, you can be sure. We ask that you come to our final two home games displaying the colors, wearing Green and White, and providing our student-athletes with your full support.

    "Please know that we remain committed to a program that is built on the right values and that has a sustained record of success for individual student-athletes and the team. Our decision was based not only on the current status of the team, but on the future. We determined that new leadership is required after very careful analysis of our expectations, our direction, and our current potential to have a sustained nationally competitive football program.

    "I am grateful for your support and your love of Spartan football."
More coverage inside
? HEADHUNTERS: President Lou Anna Simon will conduct the search with athletic director Ron Mason. Page 6D.

? SHOW YOUR GREEN: Simon sends an e-mail asking fans to show up for final home games and be enthusiastic. 6D.

? GOT MOOCH? Drew Sharp writes Steve Mariucci would be a terrible choice. 7D.

? IN THE YEAR ... MSU and Michigan changed coaches in 1995 -- and the results have been stunning ever since. 7D.
 
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November 02. 2006 6:59AM
MSU writes Dear John letter

Smith fired at MSU, but will finish year


TIM MARTIN
Associated Press Writer

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The up-and-down tenure of John L. Smith at Michigan State is coming to an end.

Smith will finish the season as the struggling Spartans' head coach, but he won't be back in 2007.

"What we asked John L. Smith to do when he got here, he has done a lot of it," Michigan State athletic director Ron Mason said Wednesday. "It hasn't shown up on the field like we wanted."

The firing came as no surprise, except for maybe the in-season timing. The Spartans are 22-23 under Smith and have been maddeningly inconsistent.

Smith had been under pressure at Michigan State and some fans were calling for his departure the last few years. School officials gave him a vote of confidence after last season's losing campaign but were looking for better results in 2006.

Just two weeks ago, the Spartans (4-5) pulled off the greatest comeback in Division I-A history by rallying from 35 points down to beat Northwestern 41-38. The next week Michigan State lost 46-21 at Indiana to fall to 1-4 in the Big Ten.

Smith spoke with reporters after practice Wednesday for 3 1/2 minutes. He didn't answer questions about the problems with the program but focused on what he wanted to accomplish in the next three games.

"If we prepare as hard as we can, and play as hard as we can, hopefully we can be rewarded with a bowl game," Smith said. "It would be a heck of a going away party."

Players said Smith was positive during Wednesday's practice and they welcomed him staying for the rest of the season.

"Coach Smith never quit on us," quarterback Drew Stanton said. "He always believed in us. He continues to fight for us."

The Spartans host Purdue on Saturday. They finish the season at home against Minnesota and on the road at Penn State.

Smith is in the fourth year of a six-year contract that pays him about $1.5 million annually. Michigan State said it will honor the last two years of Smith's contract, which will cost about $3.1 million.

Smith was credited with improving the team's academic performance. But after a fast and unexpectedly good 8-5 start in his first season -- capped by an appearance in the Alamo Bowl -- the program has struggled to maintain success.

Michigan State had losing records and did not qualify for a bowl in 2004 or 2005, and is in jeopardy of missing the postseason three consecutive seasons for the first time since the early 1980s.

Michigan State was 5-3 in the Big Ten his first season, then went 4-4 in 2004 and 2-6 in 2005. Smith will leave East Lansing having never beaten Michigan or Ohio State.

Mason and university president Lou Anna Simon said they reached the decision on Tuesday to make a change. Mason met with Smith on Wednesday, and the coach agreed to stay on the rest of the season.

Part of the reason behind the timing of the announcement is so Michigan State can search for a new coach with transparency, they said.

Mason said he believes the job will be attractive to a wide variety of coaches, but he wouldn't discuss specifics.

The program will be looking for its fourth leader since George Perles was fired at the end of the 1994 season, and that doesn't count an interim head coach that finished out the year when Bobby Williams was fired in 2002.

Smith has a 132-83 career record in 18 seasons as a college head coach.

He was hired at Michigan State after having success at Louisville, where he went 41-21 and made five consecutive bowl trips from 1998 to 2002.

Smith, who also coached at Utah State and Idaho, took over a Michigan State program that has rarely contended for a Big Ten championship since the late 1960s. The Spartans last went to the Rose Bowl after the 1987 season and haven't won a share of the Big Ten title since finishing in a four-way tie in 1990.

This season's Spartans started with three straight wins and led Notre Dame by 16 points in the fourth quarter. But Michigan State squandered the lead, lost 40-37, and hasn't been the same since.

The next week the Spartans lost to lowly Illinois.

Smith, an Idaho native who often wore cowboy boots, was sometimes too honest and animated for his own good -- at least when his team wasn't winning.

He slapped himself during a press conference after the Illinois loss, a scene replayed on national sports highlight shows. Few understood it was a reference to the previous week's loss to Notre Dame, when Irish coach Charlie Weis said he was slapped during a sideline incident.

But Smith's critics noted that the self-slap made it clear he himself hadn't gotten over the Notre Dame loss.
 
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Dispatch

NOTEBOOK
Sporadic Spartans pull plug on Smith
Thursday, November 02, 2006
FROM WIRE REPORTS

Michigan State?s program again is in a rebuilding mode after the school fired coach John L. Smith yesterday, two weeks after his team staged the biggest comeback in Division I history.
Smith, the school?s third coach since 1999, is in the fourth year of a six-year contract and will finish the season. Michigan State is 4-5 and 1-4 in the Big Ten going into a home game Saturday against Purdue. Smith?s teams have been wildly inconsistent, especially over the past two seasons, with two of this year?s losses coming to Illinois and Indiana.
"The performance on the field has not lived up to what we hoped it would be," athletic director Ron Mason said at a news conference, which Smith did not attend. "It comes time to make a change, and that?s where we?re at."
Michigan State officials said they announced their decision at this time to speed up the selection process for a new coach. Steve Mariucci, most recently the coach of the Detroit Lions, is believed to be a candidate.
The Spartans came back from a 35-point, third-quarter deficit at Northwestern two weeks ago for a 41-38 victory. But they took a 46-21 beating from Indiana on Saturday.
Smith came to Michigan State in 2003 from Louisville, where he laid a foundation of success for the Cardinals, currently 7-0 and ranked No. 5. He was 41-21 in five years at Louisville and took his teams to five straight bowl games.
Smith started the season with an 18-18 record at Michigan State and posted three straight wins. But the Spartans blew a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter Sept. 23 and lost to Notre Dame 40-37, and Illinois upset them the next week. Both games were in East Lansing.
Last night?s result

No. 14 Boise State 45, Fresno State 21 ? Boise State?s Jared Zabransky threw for 180 yards and a touchdown and Ian Johnson rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
Zabransky directed the Broncos (9-0, 5-0 Western Athletic) to scores on four consecutive possessions in the first half. He also led scoring drives the first two times Boise State had the ball in the second half.
The Broncos were ranked 14 th in this week?s Bowl Championship Series standings and need to finish in the top 12 of the final poll to become the second team from a non-BCS conference to land a spot in one of the big-money bowl games.
 
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A huge Miami fan I know tells me Butch Davis will return to Miami after this season. It may be wishful thinking, but who knows.

Brian Kelly would be a good choice, but he is probably a couple more good seasons before jumping to the Big Ten. I can tell you Brian is a good Guinness drinker :wink2: He did a hell of a job at GVSU.

Mariucci (sp?) does seem natural since he is good friends with Izzo, but who knows if he wants the headaches. I bet he is on the short list.
 
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Well, Mariucci's agent said that he doesn't want the job.

Gene Chizik's name is appearing, too. I think Davis, Chizik, Tenuta, or English would all be good hires for state.

Here's a list from the RCMB:

* Charlie Baggett - Miami Dolphins, assistant head coach
* Gene Chizik - University of Texas, defensive coordinator
* Norm Chow - Tennessee Titans, offensive coordinator
* Mark Dantonio - University of Cincinnati, head coach
* Butch Davis - former Cleveland Browns head coach
* Ron English - University of Michigan, defensive coordinator
* Kirk Gibson - Detroit Tigers
* Todd Grantham - Cleveland Browns, defensive coordinator
* Jim Harbaugh - University of San Diego, head coach
* Brian Kelly - Central Michigan University, head coach
* Steve Mariucci - former Detroit Lions head coach
* Bo Pelini - Louisiana State University, defensive coordinator
* Nick Saban - Miami Dolphins, head coach
* Greg Schiano - Rutgers University, head coach
* Pat Shurmur - Philadelphia Eagles, QB coach
* Charlie Strong - University of Florida, defensive coordinator
* Jon Tenuta - Georgia Tech University, defensive coordinator
* Tyrone Willingham - University of Washington, head coach
 
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TheMile;650387; said:
Well, Mariucci's agent said that he doesn't want the job.

Gene Chizik's name is appearing, too. I think Davis, Chizik, Tenuta, or English would all be good hires for state.
Click to expand...

Do you really think that English would leave UM to go up to MSU? My thought is that Michigan State is too much of a rivalry to go directly from Michigan to Michigan State. Even Bo went to Miami (OH) before going to Michigan. But, hey.. I'm sure stranger things have happened.
 
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This is from the Ozone's weekly preview of the upcoming games:

ozone.tipsheet

Teams: Purdue at Michigan State
Time (TV): 3:30 pm (ESPNU)
Interest: 5
Cheer For: Michigan State

Wednesday was a sad day in the college football community. The Lindsay Lohan of college coaches, John L. Smith, has resigned. But, so as to wean us off of his hilarity, he will stay on for the rest of the season. It has been reported that Bristol-Myers is working on a John L. patch to combat any withdrawal. I personally don't expect to be without John L. for long. I think he'll end up taking over for Lee Corso on Gameday in a couple of years. Sadly, his tenure will be brief, when, eschewing the mascot head gag, he will don an actual bulldog head while picking the Georgia-Florida game in 2008.
 
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Zurp;650401; said:
Do you really think that English would leave UM to go up to MSU? My thought is that Michigan State is too much of a rivalry to go directly from Michigan to Michigan State. Even Bo went to Miami (OH) before going to Michigan. But, hey.. I'm sure stranger things have happened.
Click to expand...
I don't think English will go to MSU, but that's more because he knows he'll be on the short list for Michigan's job when Carr retires.

If he doesn't think he'll have a real shot at Michigan's job, well, a major head coaching job is a major head coaching job, and he'd make 7 figures or near to it. English knows he's a hot commodity, which is why (I assume) he leveraged the Chicago Bears offer to get Michigan to give him the DC job outright.



BuckBackHome said:
The Kirk Gibson name on the list cracks me up. Ron Mason is nutty enough to hire the guy.
Click to expand...
I agree it'd be insane, but they LOVE Gibby here in Lansing.
 
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Published November 3, 2006
MSU looks at Davis, English

Ex-Browns boss, U-M assistant both among early targets

By Joe Rexrode
Lansing State Journal
EAST LANSING - Names will swirl like flies on a pig farm until Michigan State names its next football coach.
They've been zipping about since MSU announced the firing of John L. Smith on Wednesday afternoon. Steve Mariucci! Tyrone Willingham! Nick Saban! Jon Tenuta!
There are two candidates who have garnered substantial early discussion, according to MSU sources: Butch Davis, the former Miami (Fla.) coach who is readily available for hire after resigning from the Cleveland Browns two years ago; and Ron English, Michigan's first-year defensive coordinator.

The potential interest of Davis and English in MSU is unclear. Davis' agent, Marvin Demoff, did not return calls left at his office and home. English is not available to the media and - like any coach with a job - not likely to speculate publicly if he were.
There are plenty of others on the preliminary list, as a process that should heat up next week gets under way. It's being led by MSU President Lou Anna Simon, who is looking for someone with a grasp of MSU's terrain and tradition, among other things.
"Not necessarily," Simon said when asked if the next coach should have ties to MSU. "It has to be a person to appreciate what it means to be a part of Big Ten football and wants to take on the challenge of moving us up to the next level."
The next level would be the success enjoyed recently by Iowa, Wisconsin and Purdue. The level after that would be Michigan and Ohio State.
"We obviously want a person who's going to relish the storied rivalries that are a part of Michigan State University," Simon said, "and be sort of bold enough to think they can go and take on those folks who are established, and move us up on the list."
Smith admittedly took some time to get a sense for Midwest recruiting, including the accelerated timetable in this region compared with what he was used to in the West and at Louisville.
"We need somebody who understands what MSU's all about - who doesn't need a road map to get to Grand Rapids," MSU senior quarterback Drew Stanton said when asked what the next coach should bring.
From that perspective, prospects such as Pat Shurmur (Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks coach, former MSU player), Mark Dantonio (Cincinnati head coach, former MSU assistant) and Willingham (Washington head coach, former MSU player) would make sense.
Mariucci is the name national outlets have been spouting since Smith was fired. He is MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo's best friend and he's available after being fired by the Detroit Lions a year ago.
Izzo said little when asked about Mariucci after his team's exhibition game Wednesday in Grand Rapids. But Mariucci's agent, Sandy Montag, told the State Journal on Thursday that his client "is very happy this season working with the NFL Network and he's not looking to jump back into coaching."
Asked if he and Mariucci had discussed the MSU job specifically, Montag said: "I'm not at liberty to talk about that, but he's happy doing what he's doing."
Many of the other popular names belong to high-profile defensive coordinators - after four years of porous defense under Smith.
English, Tenuta (Georgia Tech), Bo Pelini (LSU), Charlie Strong (Florida) and Gene Chizik (Texas) fit that bill. Strong and Chizik are Southern-rooted, but MSU is at least being discussed down in Texas.
In a Thursday story in the Austin American-Statesman, Texas head coach Mack Brown gave his public blessing to Chizik should MSU - or anyone else - be interested.
Chizik's on the big list with everyone else, but that list will be whittled down to a handful of serious possibilities in the coming days.
 
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POSTED 5:01 p.m. EST, November 2, 2006​
SPARTANS WANT SABAN​
Within barely a half hour after posting our story that Nick Saban is unhappy in his current job as the coach of the Miami Dolphins, word has filtered to Profootballtalk.com and Collegefootballtalk.com (but we're taking the credit for this one) that Michigan State plans to make a major push to get Saban to return to the Spartan program. ​
A source with knowledge of the situation tells us that Michigan State has made informal contact with Saban since Wednesday's announcement that current Spartans coach John L. Smith won't return in 2007.​
Money apparently won't be an issue, since it's our understanding that the Spartans are prepared to make a significant offer to get Saban to return to East Lansing.​
The fact that M. Peter McPherson is no longer the president of the university is regarded as a positive, since Saban and Peter didn't see eye to eye. It's believed that McPherson's successor, former Michigan State provost Lou Anna Kimsey Simon, enjoyed a positive relationship with Saban. ​
Stay tuned. ​
POSTED 4:19 p.m. EST, November 2, 2006​
SABAN LOOKING TO FLEE FROM THE FINS?​
Surprisingly, there's a rumor making the rounds that Dolphins coach Nick Saban might try to get out of Miami after the 2006 season.​
The talk is that Saban sees no light at the end of the tunnel for a franchise with an aging nucleus and an unsettled quarterback situation. And the fact that he's on his way to the first losing record of his coaching career is "killing him," we're told.​
Even if the Fins continue to flounder and win the Brady Quinn derby, it'll be a couple of years (at least) before Quinn can make a difference. ​
Of course, the mere fact that Saban might want out means nothing if the team doesn't want him to leave. He is under contract through the 2009 season. Though the franchise can't force him to honor the deal, they most likely can keep him from coaching for anyone else.​
But we won't rule out a mutual parting of the ways, because owner Wayne Huizenga surely can't be happy with the current status of the team in light of the sky-high preseason expectations. If, for example, Saban wants out and Huizenga wants him out, then perhaps the two sides agree that he'll be released from his obligations and that he'll be owed no salary for 2007 through 2009.​
If Saban leaves, the obvious question is where would he go next? Vacancies in the NFL might be scarce next season, even though there are several cities in which the current coach could retire (Dallas, Pittsburgh, Washington, Seattle, Indy), quit (Tennessee, Cardinals), or be fired (Ravens, Browns, Chargers, Eagles, Lions, Cardinals, 49ers).​
Want an intriguing possibility? How about the Bears, where head coach Lovie Smith still hasn't gotten an extension beyond the 2007 season. What if they win the Super Bowl and he asks to be released so that he can go coach, say, a team in his home state of Texas? Saban and Bears G.M. Jerry Angelo are good friends, and Saban could end up on the short list to replace Smith.​
Or Saban could return to the college game. Though we don't follow "amateur" football closely enough to know which jobs might come open, Joe Collegio of our sister site recently has mentioned that Mike Shula could be in trouble at Alabama. ​
Keep in mind that this is simply wild-ass speculation. But what's not speculation is the chatter regarding Saban's unhappiness with his current situation. If the feeling becomes mutual, Saban's stay in South Florida could end up being just as long (and possibly not as successful) as Steve Spurrier's two-season stint with the 'Skins.
​
 
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