📅 Published on: 2024-12-04 20:51:07
⏱ Duration: 00:32:21 (1941 seconds)
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📝 Video Description:
Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith introduced the 18 high school members of his 2025 recruiting class. Twelve of those players will enroll in January and be eligible to particiapte in off-season conditioning and spring football.
🎙 Channel: SpartanMag
🌍 Channel Country: United States
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Michigan State Football,Tom Izzo,Spartan football,Michigan State,MSU,Magic Johnson,Draymond Green,East Lansing,NFL Draft order,Michigan State University,Mel Tucker,Michigan State basketball,MSU football,MSU basketball,Michigan State football news,Michigan State basketball news,Michigan State recruiting news,Michigan State football recruiting,Michigan State basketball recruiting
🕵️♂️ Transcript:
exciting day um kind of a Finish Line of a lot a lot of work and um really pleased kind of where we where we landed today um you know it’s one piece of the puzzle of putting your roster together but it’s really an important one no doubt um and because you can you can build your team throughout the the year now but obviously U you know signing day uh in regards to high school it’s an important important part um couple things just overall about this class that we’re that we that we like a lot um heavy dose kind of on this Inside Out approach right seven from the state of Michigan two from Ohio one from Illinois the others outside of outside of that region across the country from California all the way over to to Maryland I think the reoccurring theme you look at these these guys are coming from quality programs a lot of winners in this class thinking about state championships uh played in the state championship game shoot playing this weekend in the in the state championship uh I think there’s value with that guys that have spent their experience in high school at a at a program that that values doing things right and winning at a a high level a couple of these guys we lik is that there were senior eval they went out and had big-time senior years and we continued to work and track that and we were able to land a couple guys um like that 11 of them will be here early in January so more than more than half so anxious to get started with them in in less than a month um it’s so with that there’s a lot of work done I want to say a few thank yous one you know the coaching staff for sure there’s a lot of asking them to take another step in evaluation and relationship building trying to dig deeply into that the coaching staff really worked really hard on that our recruiting staff our recruiting department uh scouring watching tapes finding angles there’s a lot that goes into this this recruiting side of things I want to thank Spartan Nation nil we all know the landscape as it’s going that was a vital vital part not just of this recruiting class but then you think about retaining your roster and then you know the transfer portals opening up uh in next week Spartan Nation nil was a huge part of as we continue to build build this program and so wasn’t going to go individually about each day a guy hopefully you know get asked to be able to talk about them but again it’s a balance you look at offense to defense um some needs and and some areas where we feel awesome about um them growing whether we’re talking the secondary needed multiple guys wanted multiple guys there quarterback uh the running back room feel really good about both those guys line of scrimmage players so was a well well-rounded class with that fire away Jonathan over can you um take us through the process with Jace in terms of getting him to change his mind and and what those conversations were when they took place and um what was sort of the sales pit yeah I think it was uh you just keep competing I would you know all of us felt really really confident that our place was a great fit for him and not just because he is a couple of miles away from the the campus the relationships we built learning him uh his personality type his attributes his family uh that we got a chance to do that over a long period of time and so you just keep competing and then all the way till till the end um and really reassuring re-echoing some messages that where we’re headed with this program how he fits how uh he’s got an opportunity to be a legacy at at this place and then at the end of the day I think um they made a great great great choice Jonathan you always talk about the landscape change and I’m always intrigued when nil plays a role how much of this going forward is going to be your focus on development that you talk about a lot but having to be open to the influence that nil has well I think we’re open to the influence uh that that it has CU it does it does have a part um again identification on the qualities the you know the people we’re trying to bring in the building think of a pie chart nil as a piece of that pie without question um but there are also other factors that we want guys to uh have importance of school of being a teammate obviously their their talent level and the fit of location in the locker room and things and nil is a part of those conversations and it it’s not going away hey John with the elimination of the national letter of intent I was wondering just how procedurally that that impacts and makes things different said they still sign a financial aid agreement but I guess retaining them once they you know once they rroll they’re really locked in but just kind of how much different does that make the process yeah there’s some legalities that make it a little bit different I don’t the process of like what took place today documents came in that was all all all kind of the same uh you know this day and age that you know yeah they get a month we’re still counting on them pretty confident all 11 guys that we expect to be here in January to be here um but uh it’s a little bit different than a true letter of intent uh that it’s been in in the past in terms of jce clarizio I don’t know much how you’ve seen him live he’s very fast doesn’t have great size do you see him as an immediate impact guy or is he a special teams guy that has to grow into that position or how can you project him here if you can yeah I you know watching him getting to know him yeah immediately opportunity to impact us on the offense I do think he’s got a skill set to be on special teams but arriving in January get them into the spring practice you know first couple of months acclimated learning the scheme getting in the weight room all of that and then we’ll start Spring ball in March um and he’ll get opportunity to kind of showcase where where he’s at U but yeah we see him really the approach with every freshman that that’ll come in here we’re going to give them opportunity to play if they are ready to play and go and jaay U will be be one of those guys Jonathan right here a good chunk of your class committed over the summer and you guys were able to hold on to them you know good six seven months or more in some cases uh what was sort of the original pitch to some of those guys early on in the summer before you guys have played a game to buy into the division and did that have to evolve at all later in the season when you’re trying to add more guys and retain those guys originally uh once the season starts playing out yeah it’s a it’s a good question I don’t think the pitch or the selling points totally changed right what we talked about in June uh June in regards to what this place can how we’re going to go about it in regards the development on and off the field uh competitively on in practice in the weight room all of that stayed the same I do think we talked to guys in June and just forecasting we’re going into year one year one sometimes there’s some bumps in the road and all of that I think that helped as as the season went on because we did have a few bumps in the road um later guys that maybe committed later toward the toward the scene some of it they could see it um on TV on the teams on the team the way they compete comped in things and then they saw some opportunity that they wanted to to be a part of that and so some of those conversations were a little bit different than maybe June Jonathan is there someone you look at in this class and say wow he could help us now he’s that mature that ready and if someone does not come in in January how big of a disadvantage does that put them at right I you I don’t think it’s as big as maybe it looks call it on paper in regards to coming in in the summer versus in January uh depending on maybe the position you know I think that’d be kind of tough at quarterback to be coming in in this summer and doing it um but the it’s easy it’s tough to point out a single one um but I think a couple of guys right off the Aiden West I think has an opportunity to impact the thing pretty early on in his his career Derek Simmons at the line of scrimmage where his bodies is at you know coming at the midyear opportunity you know there again all 11 guys will get get these opportunities I’m kind of anxious to see lead throw the ball around you know he’s really playing really well start of his senior year ran into an injury that kind of side got him got him sidelined there but I’m anxious to kind of see him healthy and throw it Jonathan you mentioned uh Aiden West I was wondering when you when you lose a quarterback’s coach how you’re able to retain some of those guys when you’re talking about relationships and then as as far as um demetrius’s concern just thoughts on him leaving it and where you go from there yeah appreciate the the year work coach me gave us uh came back uh did some good things I think that decision for him came a lot down to like family and and the location of of work and getting closer to some aspects of for his life uh you know Aiden West being an example you know he had a great relationship with Coach meet but we do try as a staff to have multiple relationships not just the position coach and I again I think it’s important for recruits to choose places more than just their position coach because you know how things can change and I think Aiden took a holistic look at everything that we were uh we got going on and and still felt really good about it so you have 11 coming in in January how many are you signing today what’s the number I think it’s s 18 18 where we landed yeah really these projection questions we asked in the new landscape of college football you don’t have three and four your projects anymore right most of these guys got to contribute right away or they’re going to transfer right yeah the land landcape is again it goes down not every guy is not into you know development and and working and again these guys are excited about coming to work and going uh the landscape does it’s always a moving Target managing your manage your roster I mean I don’t know another way to say it just even this month of what what how much movement where it could go even the back in the day two three years ago you say well we’re going to be losing these three receivers we got to replace three receivers and you just don’t know cuz it’s going to be a moving Target um so that you get try to get an idea I’ll just tell you a little bit what we’re doing this week cuz we’re not on the on the road it’s dead in regards to recruiting we’re meeting with every guy on our roster to get a feel a little bit on on where they’re at with things but also talk about how they can improve their in their uh improve their game um and and those conversations are taking place this week Jonathan I I know obviously next year you know there could be the revenue sharing that’s starting with next year’s starting in July you’ve got potential scholarship changes like are you recruiting on the 85 scholarship assumption or are you recruiting on a different number and then with um with you know understanding that the world of nil could change some of in the house some of it outside and all that how is that a basis on what you’re able to offer now yeah uh we are operating off an 85 scholarship number we uh feel confident that the roster size is going to go to 105 uh but that number 105 in current my understandings will be in August maybe even late August to get to that get to that number we were definitely having conversations on the revenue share side and that kick start in July 1 um and that being a part of again the piece of the pie as they’re making decisions and things and then I go back Spartan Nation nil huge um and they need to continue to be um through the January to that July 1 um uh timeline and those so all of that in regards to packages that we’re discussing in in recruit and retaining our roster are going on and on your left thing you’ve brought up the Inside Out approach you know jaay is right there in your backyard yeah um so like just how big is it to just kind of establish your footprint and land a guy like that with someone that’s in state like right right yeah yeah it’s big right you want a momentum I think that there’s just value for guys that play in this state High School football in this state to be able to stay home play in front of family and friends right here I I think there’s some value for their college experience of them a lot of these guys have call it younger brother young younger sister they’ve got games going on so they can go to college have a big- Time experience but also be active in the life of them you know their younger siblings access to be able to run home on weekends to to Mom and Dad and bring some buddies all of that is uh and good and again back to Jace yeah high-profile highly recruited for him to you know turn down a couple really good options to know that uh his best fit is here at to you know our our confidence and what we’re building here coach how crucial was blue Adams rle these past couple days without coach meet yeah um he’s been crucial the throughout but yeah important and it it’s unsettling when a position coach leaves I’m thinking more about the current roster maybe than than the recruiting side but uh blue is a connector um he connects with guys not just in the secondary but throughout the team and he’s been vitally important and he and he was important on the on I really excited about the DBS with four of them coming in he was huge in in recruiting those guys Jonathan get into the weeds a little bit just a second ago referring to Jace not only winning and recruiting someone out of your backyard but the elephant in the room was that he was committed to a major program in Alabama national championships in recent years uh you’ve always been humble but what does that say about where this program is going that you can compete in that type of situation to get this kind of outcome specifically I think think think it shows we can compete at the highest level a couple of these guys had really high profile options and we were able to to have them choose us and Believe in Us and so I think it shows a great direction of where we’re headed um I’ll say this a little bit though we are going to make our own evaluation too and so we we like guys whether they’re highly you know sought after but I also like guys that you know have great senior years and continue to work and then fit us um so we want to be able to compete at the highest level and also uh trust our trust deeply our our own evaluation Jonathan I was wondering do you expect I know obviously things are fluid when you’re recruiting the portal as well but do you expect any to be remain active in this 2025 class with the February signing period uh potentially yeah I definitely not going to have 18 run up up in here in February but yeah you’re always trying to build your roster 365 and if there’s continue to be a few High players out there that fit us yeah we won’t be shy to do that in in February uh Jonathan you had three players from Orchard Lake St Marys I think that was a school that you visited early on soon after you got the job what’s it been like to get in there meet those people begin to recruit get three commitments watch them win a state championship all those things and can you comment about those three players yeah the U um it was awesome to follow their season and to finish it off like that with the with the championship and um again from the get-go you talked about it early it might have been the the first day on the road recruiting going through that school and and some really good players and good people Jaden Sav the tight end really athletic he was here in the summer even on 7 on seven you could see it flashing um good good family as well um won won’t dive deep into it but uh two good two good ones that way um enjoying that and a younger sister is a really really good basketball player um so and then you know DJ uh he’s been a a huge help in recruiting this class you know getting connected with the other players physical athletic can run um excited uh excited about him he’s great again great family setup Jonathan uh you mentioned the two players from Orchard Lake St Mary but there’s another name that was still out there that can be recruited uh how many players are you guessing you could add to this group and philosophically would you rather have half preps half portal more preps more portal yeah I think uh philosophically just where this landscape continues to go um it it’s probably going to be closer to this 50-50 Mark you know I think you know early on still like the idea of majority high school and you supplement through the portal but just as this landscape and with so much movement and player freedom to move I think uh again we’re not going to just wake I have to get to 50/50 but I just think that might be a reality when you compare this to The Firestorm of a year ago yeah you had just been named you’re trying to put together a staff and find a house and recruit and catch up how much easier was this when you don’t have to call coaches and recruits and say hi I’m Jonathan Smith and by the way I’m the new coach here yeah yeah it was definitely less stressful because we just had more time uh much more aware of the the roster uh much you know let’s face it the strengths of the place and what we’ve got building I will say a year ago I look back on the thing we’re we’re pretty proud of the work we got done and I think about some of these guys we got in the portal last year that turned into really contributors a big way Jordan Turner uh KRON Lynch Adams nikai Martinez Wayne Matthews obviously Aiden Jack Tanner Miller Luke Newman steady Eddie and and a big time player Ed Woods played meaningful time for us and so goes back to a little bit of the confidence moving forward we’re headed into another month and yeah there’s going to be some movement and on everybody’s roster across the country but with our approach I think we can do another nice job in the portal this next month Jonathan I was ask him before about the roster size and you said at 105 I’m wondering that that obviously would be the same scholarships as Walk-Ons do you plan to still use Walk-Ons with that and and have 85 scholarships or is that something you’re still sorting out currently yes 85 scholarships up to 20 2 that’s where that’s where your head is the uh you brought up the sort of thanking Spartan Nation nil repeatedly here you do hear coaches you know asking sometimes in your shoes like imploring for more help and all this stuff and it’s a weird situation with Outsiders sort of paying for a for a roster I’m wondering like do you feel right now that you have the resources you need adequately uh as they stand to retain a roster and then to recruit the guys you need to to get the team where you want it yeah you kind of mentioned you know I think it was weird you’re talking about Outsiders to help to you know retain the roster and things and I think that’s why it’ll be a big thing July 1 when it begins this idea of Revenue sharing and and things like that I think we want to be in a constant state of improvement across our our program coaches players um and then outside Spartan Nation nil continue to improve it makes a a big difference um but confident like I said in our approach as we continue to improve to be able to to compete at the highest level in recruiting over the next six months talked about Leo a little bit but what stood out with him and why was he a good fit loves football that stood out right off the top I you know going going to the high school and he wants to sit down and talk schi he wants to to get on the board and all of that we actually had identified a relationship with him early on all the way back to to Oregon State um so that jumps out that he loves talking ball wants to know about it and I think that’s important out of a out of a quarterback and then yes is is his natural skill set of of passing the thing he can he’s not just a thrower of the ball he’s a passer of the ball strong arm athletic good sized and all that but he’s a good passer of it Jonathan I got a couple things for you um the linebacker Leonard I don’t want to mispronounce his last name but Hau okay sort of what’s his story an older guy and how do you keep in touch with a guy like that where I mean you guys had the past relationship just what’s how’d that come about that was a big part of it it was the past relationship because again it was a couple of years ago recruiting at Oregon State they came and visited that place and built a built a relationship there awesome experience for him to go on a mission which he’ll complete I think it’s the end of March uh early April and he’ll he’ll be back um was able to you know stay in touch mostly through the family just FaceTime with the the parents about leading up to Thanksgiving uh you talk about good people these guys it was a Sunday before Thanksgiving they’re having their Thanksgiving dinner on that Sunday because what they do on Thanksgiving is have a meal for all others in the community and things and so that that relationship coach s NOA deeply in in that one um we’re excited to to have it real quick where was the mission um and is there any like I don’t know concerns about like Russ football like because he been doing football things for a couple I believe it’s in Samoa is where he’s at on on a mission um and without question and we know these and we’ve had guys come back from Mormon missions that yeah it’s going to take a little bit and like he he’s moving around um but uh he you know he gets back here in April he has a full summer of training we feel great that he’ll be able to get in shape and then the other thing I was originally going to ask is when you talk about Demetri seven will that be sort of a how much will Joe Rossy lead that being his side of the ball and how much will you you delegate or collaborate there what will that definitely collaboration Joe heavily involved that defensive staff uh without a doubt um and I I just take those you decisions U they report and in things and so we’ve got a lot to sell we got a lot of interest high-profile column resumes that are interested in the job we’ll find the right fit um but definitely me and Joe uh conversating about that one I’m curious about the two Dakota kids deari Malone Justin Bell what do you like about them and do you see yourself kind of uh you know accessing that Dakota pipeline more yep uh deari athletic football means a ton to him too physical brand of ball good family again Justin really did a nice job in our camp in the summer you know he has good size and that but we were able to kind of more or less work him out um and he uh did did great with that again I like the idea of a couple of guys in the state pipelines sure moving forward but also for the family setup um of them being able to spend their college career at at this place yeah can you talk about bril and ker wide receiver looks like he’s a really excellent leaper and production yep you look at it even the year he’s having the production natural hands can run uh I think he’s skilled for for a high school player in route running another kid that’s coming from a big time place huge championship game for for him this weekend um been committed for a while another quality family getting to know them they’ve been out here A bunch two games during the fall helping us helping us recruit and you touched into Ohio to get him what are your initial uh one year into it your thoughts about as you’ve gone through Ohio a little bit quality football quality coaching in Ohio and Michigan both those States I mean the high school football is is there’s a lot of players there there’s a a lot of well-run programs in the state so uh we want to continue to build those relationships with High School coaches um there’s there’s good football players and we want probably next year hopefully we’re talking about more than just one Jonathan obviously you like all these guys the recruiting service is not quite so favorable to it uh how important are the stars when you look at three stars four stars and how tough is to try to win a conference Championship in the current environment without a top 30 class yeah you know uh I’m not here to say Stars don’t mean anything at at all again I go back to you know we will trust our evaluations and whatnot and there’s some four star five star column that yeah we would love to have we think fit and we would like to to get a few more of those but if they if they truly fit our place the landscape of how it’s continuing to going roster retention you know um I don’t know if it’s as vital to win a championship um just in regards because you can add to your roster in different ways than maybe in the in years’s passed on on the portal it’s still important I’m not I’m not here to say like uh four or five stars aren’t a bunch of good players but not all of them and not all of them fit our place and we’ve got a couple of them you know um we we’ll see what it looks like in a couple years Jonathan as you’ve had a few days to sort of you had a lot going but to digest the season I should say and and back at at where things are and what you need um I guess what what are your thoughts reflecting on the first season a little bit and sort of your vision for what you think you need and where uh to you know to be more competitive quickly well yeah we got to get better um I am optimistic with some of the young Talent uh that that is currently on the roster I think about you know Aiden and watching his development as a first year as a starter and and really statistically on the back half of the Season he he improved you know just you can blatantly see on paper let alone watching it on the T I think he’s got some guys around him that are younger and we got some good young Talent around him on the perimeter and things we got to take a step at the line of scrimmage um and again we got a couple players that have a chance to be back and get better uh we got some young talent that needs to continue to work um and then we got to add add to that to that position you flip it on the other side same thing I got we got some young talent that got some meaningful reps especially in the back end and those guys taking a step uh will will be important important um so I got some confidence again this is a big month to add if we can have our hit rate like we did last year and then the current guys young Talent or maybe guys headed into their last year we all got to take a step in and improve include the coaches in that right you know first year going through the experience right of the schematics and and that that’s some of the part I love the most is the football side schematically how we’re developing and going um we we got to take a take a step as coaches too kind of going off that what kind of message do you want to send with this class when you consider you know where you want to be as a program yeah count on this part of the recruiting uh process with this class we do feel like yeah first year laying a foundation we want to be a place of Ascension and these guys are going to contribute to that in a in a big big way Jonathan as you’re going through your like evaluations or you know exit meetings or whatever I was wondering if you have any guys that who have eligibility left that you know are are going like a guy like Nate Carter who W did the senior day thing but he’s got a year just anybody that fits in that category yeah I I kind of leave this Nate stands out as one is like he’ll his timeline on letting people know his decision and things he got a lot to to weigh there and some of those meetings we haven’t finished the end of this kind of this weekend next um but uh I don’t have any announcement on a guy Jonathan uh maybe trying to well I’ll start with this um how important when you talk about like this era coming and going trying to retain guys how much more important is that and the part of evaluating the character and the mindset that type of stuff how much more important is that I guess and how difficult is that just in general I think it’s you know an important attribute to have in this landscape I told I told our team yesterday at a team meeting of just because of all of this this landscape of potential movement or I could do this or who’s staying who’s going how much is he getting paid who’s not pay all of this just it’s an atmosphere that can create some doubt creat some just uncertainty it can create a little bit of flattering right oh such and such School contact me such all of that so I do think the middle makeup um is important and is probably more important than it ever has been I guess sort of tying that into my second part here after the game the other night Aiden mentioned some stuff about we need to weed some guys out and making sure everyone’s sort of aligned in the locker room and everything that was kind of the first time we’d heard some stuff like that I guess had you detected that late in the season did you agree I guess with his comments or U had you heard him I guess first of all just where uh where things stand with that yeah I think that was immediate after a tough loss and a tough into you know a tough season um he’s got high standards he’s competitive uh in in those things and I think there’s probably some truth to you know we wanted to get this thing in a better place which really confident we can next year I’d say better place record wise um and he wants to be be be a part of that and I think he kind of owned himself as well as T to you know you know stepping up he’s been a a leader in that room but we had a we had a ton on that previous year and we got a ton that have the potential to be retained on the leadership side yeah Jonathan getting back to uh California with Drew Nichols yeah um maybe a guy that you had been with uh back at Oregon State tell me about what you liked about him what Jim mahalic liked about him looks like he’s a guy with some Mobility to get fit into your Zone schemes and so forth yeah that was his first thing was say kind of Mobility athleticism I identified early does have some connections to the area uh with the family and so we’ve had a longer long relationship another one that had you know talk about a program out in Southern California but winning and is about uh uh you know the championship level type program that you know good kid loves football and is athletic and has family ties to the to the Midwest out this way Jonathan uh when you think about the college football playoff now four big 10 teams seem to be locked into it to the 12 and you go out recruiting and you’re a member of the Big 10 conference how much easier does that make it for you and how daunting is it to know you’re swimming in some shark infested waters yeah I think it’s a huge benefit to be in the Big 10 conference to be able to compete at the highest level we talk about this in in in conversations um because like the big 10 you all good at these 18 teams and how competitive is the quality of player the quality of Coach schematics the fan bases like that’s what you want to be a part of um so I we we sell it in regards to wanting to compete at the the highest level and you got the opportunity to do it right here Michigan State in the in the Big 10 Jonathan I I know you may want to be careful with this when you look back to Saturday I know it was miserable weather and I know the game didn’t have real high stakes generally other than what for you it did it was a bad optic to have so many empty seats how much did that concern you as you move forward and is that part of what you’re trying to repair here well yeah we’re working to get people in the seats you want people uh you know excited about what the product is and where we’re headed and all that understand it was Thanksgiving weekend it was you know cold and all of that um so I wasn’t all you know panicking we it was another piece of motivation you look around and you know where where the game ended how many uh people are in the seats which I’ll appreciate everybody who stayed to the to the end but I I’m using that as a motivator of how fulfilling it’s going to be when this place is packed again and we’re playing for our 11th 12th win all right good question um getting back to recruits kale thrush a guy that I think might have been listed as a defensive end earlier he’s put on some as he’s grown to be an older young man is that a guy that might be moving inside what do you see from him I think he has the growth potential to do it um when he when he arrives we we’ll make that call exactly but I think growth potential it keeps his athleticism and his grit and physicality um you know could be he might play multiple play a little inside play a little outside at the line of scrimmage and and get in the back field really his mentality uh you watch it on tape how physical he is how hard he plays uh we love that let alone the physical attributes that that he has size and strength thanks guys
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