Michigan State football: Jonathan Smith after Spartans survive Purdue
Coach Jonathan Smith recaps Michigan State football’s 24-17 victory over Purdue on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in East Lansing, Michigan.
Michigan State Athletics
It wasn’t the season for Michigan State football that anyone dreamed of in East Lansing, but now for the first time, Jonathan Smith and his staff will have a full offseason to try and launch a rebuild.
The Spartans finished 5-7 in Smith’s first season wearing green and white, missing a bowl game for the third straight season after the euphoric 2021 campaign that saw the Spartans beat Michigan, finish 11-2 and win the Peach Bowl.
After jumping out to a 3-0 start this year, the Spartans went just 2-7 the rest of the way, and the lack of program momentum seems to be impacting MSU on the recruiting trail so far.
Michigan State has landed just two four-star recruits under Smith, and the Spartans entered Wednesday with the 59th-ranked recruiting class in the nation, according to 247 Sports.
The Spartans have just 16 commits in their 2025 recruiting class, highlighted by four-star defensive lineman Derrick Simmons, who played in state at Frankenmuth High School, as well as Charles White, a linebacker from Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.
In total, the Spartans class is ranked 16th out of the 18 Big Ten teams, ahead of only Northwestern and Purdue, who finished a combined 5-19 this year.
Down the road in Ann Arbor, the Michigan Wolverines are having a much different experience. After a mostly disappointing first year under Sherrone Moore that was flipped on its head with a shocking upset over Ohio State, the Wolverines have the No. 7 ranked recruiting class in the nation, led by Belleville quarterback Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 recruit in the country.
The Wolverines have the third best recruiting class in the Big Ten, behind Ohio State (No. 3), and Oregon (No. 6).
Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs have the No. 1 ranked class in the nation, which would be their second straight year with the top-ranked class.
Here is how the rest of the top 60 recruiting rankings shape up, according to 247 Sports.
College football class of 2025 recruiting rankings
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Auburn
- Oregon
- Michigan
- LSU
- Texas A&M
- Tennessee
- Florida
- Notre Dame
- Miami
- Oklahoma
- Ole Miss
- USC
- Penn State
- Georgia Tech
- Washington
- TCU
- Wisconsin
- Nebraska
- South Carolina
- Missouri
- Maryland
- Rutgers
- Mississippi State
- SMU
- Clemson
- Kentucky
- Arkansas
- Duke
- Colorado
- Baylor
- Syracuse
- Kansas State
- UCLA
- N.C. State
- Houston
- Indiana
- Stanford
- Arizona State
- Utah
- Minnesota
- Florida State
- Iowa
- Virginia Tech
- Illinois
- Arizona
- Pittsburgh
- West Virginia
- Iowa State
- Boston College
- BYU
- Texas Tech
- Oklahoma State
- Virginia
- Wake Forest
- Michigan State
- Kansas
