Thirty five after the hour. Welcome back on a Thursday morning across the great state of Michigan. Here on Exes and Bros. We're with you Monday through Friday, six until nine. Excited for football season to begin, and really excited to see what Jonathan Smith's impact will be on the Spartan football program. Nobody knows it better than Graham Couch to the Lansing State Journal. You can follow him on Twitter or on ex Graham underscore Couch and he joins us
here on Exes and Bros. Grab Good morning to you. How are you and your family good?
Doing well? Yeah, it's good to be with you.
Yeah, same new season, always fresh start. You wrote yesterday in your article positive vibes at Tuesday's first practice. What were those positive vibes that you noticed?
Yeah, you know there's an exhale and an eagerness that you just you can feel it, and you know, I think you know, fans will often relate to the feeling that last year was just misery, right, and it was once mel Tucker was fired and you're a couple of weeks into the season, nothing good was really going to come out of that season. They lost some heartbreaking ways, and by the end they really just wanted a competitive football team, and the players felt that too. I mean,
I think it was miserable to go through. There were some embarrassing moments, and you're just waiting for something new. It's like you lose a season, and so the fact that you're now on the doorstep of another one with a fresh start and a new coach. I think those are things that you can just tell that those guys are. It's the way they talk about the season. It's the way they you know, every season is something new. Is optimism.
We all know that that's sports, but you can feel it when you're you're coming off something that was really bad.
Grant, it's really too early to even try to gauge the impact that Jonathan Smith is going to have on a program, but first impressions are pretty important. What's your first impression of Jonathan Smith, the guy who I thought was an ideal higher for this position.
Yeah, that he's a no frills personality in terms of, you know, as a coach, but he's a very competent coach. And that doesn't mean he's a no frills offense or
no frills in terms of style. But you know, he's a guy who cares about football and his family, so to speak, and doesn't really care about a whole lot else like he like when he when he speaks to the media, for example, sometimes he doesn't say a whole lot more than Mel Tucker, but he says it in very shorter, distinct sentences, and so he gets through it clicker and he almost speaks like Yoda sometimes where he puts the words in opposite order and it's it's uh, yeah,
he has been you know. And I also think that there is a an all business sort of truth serum that he and his staff have brought to the program
that the players have appreciated, especially those returning. I mean, some of the early conversations guys had with him and his staff were about not trying to convince them to stay, not trying, you know, we're about what they needed to get better at quickly, and if you know, if they wanted to maximize who they were, and the coaches that already looked through their film it are there's a you know, I think there's a sense from the guys that that it's not about it doesn't feel like it's about him,
and I think that is an important thing for them.
I love that truth serum. That's good stuff.
Graham Couch, Lancon's State Journal, joining his fall him on ex Graham underscore Couch, where's the biggest buzz do you think?
Well? I mean, I think quarterback is the physician people are most intrigued by. And because you bring in a guy like Aiden Chiles, who was a big time recruit who was, you know something, a physician they really struggled at last year. He's got, you know, quick feet, he's a playmaker, a big arm. The thing is, and I do wonder about a little bit how this is going to go. And I think people need to realize that he doesn't turn nineteen until this after the second game of the season.
And wow, I didn't know that.
So he is a young freshman. I mean, most of the freshmen to come in now the in the year of like AJ Hogard and Hunter Dickenson, are like twenty six by the time they dribble a basketball in college. But but you know, he's a young freshman and he's he's never been a starter. I mean, he came off the bench last year at Oregon State and he was brought in to be the future there. But he's gonna
have to grow into things too. I think the thing that will be more joyful for MSU fans this year, even if the record isn't great, is there will be moments of playmaking. There will be moments of promise. There be moments where you see what will be or what can be down the road. You've got a quarterback going to allow you to maybe punch up and some given games. I also think they're his targets are going to be pretty good. I think they're going to be pretty sound
at receiver and tight end. And I think that gives you a chance to I mean, you know, if you don't have the line of scrimmage, that's going to punish people, if you don't have a defense that's going to some other people. You've got to have playmakers on offense that give you a chance on a given day to have a day and to upset somebody or be in a game people don't anticipate. And I think they may have
that dynamic. They may also have a dynamic for a young quarterback where he throws some picks and they lose some games they could have won. But I think that's where the biggest optimism.
Is you and I have covered sports for a long long time. We understand the word patience, but a lot of fans get tired of it, especially those who follow the Tigers, the Red Wings, and the Pistons. So I'm not asking you to use that word here with Jonathan Smith, nor do I suggest he's used. But what word would you use as miss Again State fans ask you about this upcoming season.
Yeah, uh, it's a good question, I said. I don't want to say, really, I think fans are realistic with this, you know, I would it's a good where I would say, you know, I think people have the right to be hopeful, and I think there is a level of you know, sort of living the moment joy that you're going to be able to have with this team and some of
the most enjoyable teams. You know, everything's relative to expectations, right, Like I covered to the Michigan State teams in the D'Antonio era where they were winning a ton or they went to the year they went to the playoff, there wasn't a ton of joy throughout the season because it was no longer it no longer meant anything to like beat Purdue, right, you had to go ten and one.
When they lost a Nebraska that year, it seemed like that was going to cost them dearly, like that that was such a monumental failure, and it was one game on the road, And so in a season like this, you don't get that. What you get is you're able to enjoy the small victories. Every victory matters. You're able to enjoy the one up. Like they have a stretch of games where they play Ohio State at home, they're at Oregon six days later, they have a buye, they host Isle of the I think it's going to be
pretty good, and then they are at Michigan. Like, that's a nasty four game stretch, and if you can win one of those four games, you've probably get in yourself a real chance to get to six seven wins, maybe you know, maybe seven for sure in that sense, and that that's something you can take joy and they won't feel like a looting streak or oh they went one and three in this stretch. One and three in that stretch is something I think people will will understand and
feel okay about. What you want is them to be competitive in a couple of those games and try to steal one somewhere. It's probably not going to be Ohio State or organ so you're looking on the back end of that.
I love that word hopeful, and I think it's appropriate as we talk. Graham Couch, the Lansing State Journal, Follow him on x follow him on Twitter. Graham underscore Couch. It's not just Smith though. There are new coaches, a new staff, a new implementation of playbooks and signals and
calls and things of that nature. Generally, who has stood out to you early on that MSU fans should be excited about from a coaching standpoint, And how long do you think it takes these young student athletes, who are constantly pressed for their personal time and social time because of the commitment they've made in football, to fully grasp the new terminology and playbooks that Michigan State coaches are implementing with them.
Yeah. I mean for some of them it's you know, this is the or at least one guy's a third coach ian. These guys are committed to D'Antonio. Yep, you know that's it's a good question. You know, like Joe Rossie, the defensive coordinator they got from Minnesota and was revered there, and I think looked at that he needed another place to get to where he wants to go as a head coach. There's a lot of I mean, there have been some impressive conversations with guys, but I don't really
know them as coaches. Like I don't like the coaches credit for being really smooth talkers or good conversationalist before you see that what the sort of the fruits of what they're they're doing. But Rossi is a guy who's who's who's proven, and I think brings a welcome change on that defense, and guys have taken to pretty well. I think that was a really really strong hire and and that's important when you're an offensive coach. And look, Jonathan Smith knows this because he's been a head coach
for a while and he's had success. But when you're an offensive coach, first, you've got to get a strong defensive coordinator. You've got to get somebody on that end who's seasoned, who's really good, who can run that show, because that's that's not your expertise, that's not your world. And I think he did that there and I think that's, you know, be interesting to see how quickly that shows itself they lost some guys in the portal that were
key guys. They've got some guys that came in. There's been more turnover this year than been in a lot of other years, and so it's unclear how good they'll be. But sometimes you know, you're you know, this covering a
lot of college football at different levels. You know, like if you get a coach who simplifies things, who you get a couple of guys who can get to the quarterback, and you get some confidence early on in what you're doing, you can have a defense that plays above itself all year, and that's what MSU really needs.
You wrote really well yesterday about the importance of Montory Foster and Cal Holliday sticking.
Around for fifth years.
What is most important with that type of leadership, commitment and belief in this new coaching staff, do you think, Yeah.
Well, I think if you want to be a developmental program in a day and age when the transfer portal allows people to transfer without sitting out as many times as want, in a day and age where the answer is often to get into portal, and there's a lot of you know, an eyel inducement. You know, there's a lot out there for people to consider when they're not
playing right away, when patience is hard to have. You have guys who committed to D'Antonio and and Maverick Hansen spent a year under D'Antonio red shirt, but he played on that it was on that team. And then you know Montry Foster and Cal Halliday, as you mentioned that those guys were they've been through it, and what they basically choke, you know, decided was this is a place they liked being, and this is a program they liked being. And then the answer for them wasn't to seek somewhere else.
And all these guys were guys that they want to have been huge gets on the free agent market, so to speak, but they would have had options and and I'm not talking about options going to Akron. I'm talking about options at the high major level. And to choose that, I think it speaks to sort of a grass isn't always greener with them, you know. And then look, the transfer portal works for some guys, but if you're going to read a developmental program that in this day and age,
you need examples of that. You need older guys in the program who've been through it, who you know, have waited their turn or or have seen things go wrong come out the other side. You need people to you know, patience right, and not everybody has that voice in their life. And if they've got it in their teammates, I think that makes a big difference.
Where will the strength of this team lie.
That's a really good question, you know, I think because there's a chance they're I think they're pretty good at linebacker. There's a chance they're okay in the secondary. You know, one of these years, if there, if that's the offensive line, that would really help, but it's been about a decade
since that was the case. I think it's going to be in the in the offense, in their playmakers, in their ability to to punch up at those positions and to create there uh you know, to have you know, not just Childs, but Nick marsh is a freshman that people are really high on. It's a and you know, freshman receivers is a dangerous vision and get hyped about. But I do think he'll contribute. A big body guy
and it plays in the spring game. People have already talked about on Tory Foster, I think is a you know, he's this isn't like a Charles Rogers Plaxico Burth type, but he's a capable go to guy and he's got a little more juice to him than than maybe they had there a year ago. And Duran Glover and so I think there's a veling at tight end. I think there's there's some pieces there that that give them a chance to be to be good moving the ball through
the air. And Nate Carter has an experienced back, and when he was healthy last year, I thought he was he was pretty effective. So I think there they'll be. They'll be fine there, and I think they'll have enough to, you know, to give people problems here and there. The question is whether they have the consistency, whether they have the other parts where they have the line. But I think that is one area that I would be surprised if they aren't pretty good.
I always felt that when when MI Michigan was at the peak of their program, they were identified more than anything else by being badasses. On defense. They were just tough as nails. It was tough to run the ball. You were going to be in an absolute war when you played Michigan State, whether it be home or road. What should should in your mind, be their identity in year one under Jonathan Smith.
Yeah, that's a good question, because I think what their identity is now might be different from what it is down the road. And I mean I think it needs to be you know, competent football, a team that can hit you and a team that can hit you back when you hit them. You know, I think there needs to be a resiliency and there's the talent to do it.
I think long term, I mean at MSU, and they haven't had this for a long time, there is a zero excuse not to have better offensive lines than they've had, and that used to be something that was a real staple of I mean, obviously the defense was incredible, but you look at the best lines they had into their best years. And in the nil world, you know, lineman
don't go for what quarterbacks do. I would I would put a real emphasis on that and making that your identity because I think that's one area you could really recruit among you know, some of the best in the country. Linemen are a different sort of it's a different recruitment. You know, like some of the big guys in basketball, they commit early. They like to find a place they're comfortable. You know, they haven't been actually the darlings of the
school in high school. It's a different it's a different feel, and that's where I think the program if they are going to in the vision of Jonathan Smith, if they are going to compete then for championships. In that vision, I think they need to build something there that's consistent and and really in the upper tier of the Big Ten.
All right, lastly before I let you go, and I appreciate all the insight to Jonathan Smith and a lot of his staff coming from Washington State, where their rival was Washington and where they're playing in the Pac twelve and they're playing for an Apple Cup, and now they get a different dial of a conference and you're playing
for the Paul Bunyan Trophy and other trophies. How long does it take do you think for new coaching staffs to recognize, appreciate and feel the rivalries of Big Ten opponents compared to another conference.
It's a good question, And I mean, I do think the feel of being at Oregon State with the dynamic of Oregon has some similarities to Michigan State and Michigan not entirely, but that feeling that somebody's you know, somebody thinks they're better than you. That feeling that Michigan State has felt for forever and right now it certainly is true on the football field. So I think that helped. But that's a good I think you have to feel it.
I think you have to experience it. I think you have to be out there and there has to be you know, because you see Jonathan Smith and Sean more now you know, very very cordial, and they should. I'm not saying that's that's a bad thing.
I think that is.
The Lion rivalry was really healthy because so finally had a coach he really respected and actually liked there, and that I just I think that stuff's fine. But I do think you have to feel it. You have to feel. You have to lose once, you have to feel embarrassed. You have to feel how the fan base feels and the emails and letters and conversations you get about that rivalry game all the time. And it doesn't take long.
I mean, mel Tucker had been there before, but he got it pretty quickly, and you know, and I think other than you know, obviously things went wrong at the end, but like winning, having success in that rivalry, which he did. You know, if other things have gone differently, would have bought him some time in terms of how people felt. Now.
The thing that's different now than it was for D'Antonio is that Michigan's just winning at such a high level, and that drives Michigan State fans not so there is a Michigan continues to play like they have, you know, like they were the last couple years. That just adds to the sort of the fervor to get it done
and start winning those games. But yeah, you'll feel it the second you play it, I think can You'll feel it if there's a little disrespect in the game or there's and you'll feel it from your own fan base if things don't go well or even if they do.
Yeah, it's great stuff, man. I think I misspoken, said Washington State. I'm in Oregon State. Great stuff, Graham. Keep up the great workman, Lancey State Journal. Enjoy the articles very much, enjoy the coverage. Don't be a stranger. Really look forward to you covering the Spartans for another award winning season.
Thanks for everything. We'll talk to you soon, Okay.
Yeah, great to talk to again. Matt