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Oregon State isn’t changing conferences, but its head coach is.
On Saturday, Michigan State announced it hired Jonathan Smith as its next head coach. Smith became Oregon State head coach in 2018, taking over a program that went 1-11 in 2017, and led it to three consecutive winning seasons (2021-23).
He was named (along with Washington’s Kalen DeBoer) Pac-12 Coach of the Year following the 2022 season in which Oregon State went 10-3, its first 10-win season since 2006 and only the third in program history.
Sports Illustrated reported Smith was a leading candidate for the Michigan State job on Friday, the same day both the Beavers and Spartans had their seasons ended with losses. No. 16 Oregon State (8-4, 5-4 in Pac-12) lost to No. 6 Oregon (11-1, 8-1 in Pac-12), 31-7, while Michigan State (4-8, 2-7 in Big Ten) was trampled 42-0 by No. 11 Penn State (10-2, 7-2 in Big Ten).
The Spartans made an excellent hire that should quickly erase the stench of the Mel Tucker era. For Oregon State, Smith’s departure could make the Big Ten the school’s biggest rival.
Not only is the conference partly responsible for the death of the Pac-12, but it’s also taking a coach who made the Beavers relevant.
The Big Ten pulled the first block that led to the Pac-12’s demise when USC and UCLA announced they were leaving on June 30, 2022, followed by the conference agreeing to add Oregon and Washington this past summer.
Those four schools will join the conference in 2024, leaving Oregon State (and Washington State) behind as the Pac-2. While the Beavers try to figure out a path forward outside a major conference, they must also find a head coach to lead them during these uncertain times. This offseason just got a lot more challenging in Corvallis.
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