Speaker 1: Thirty five after the hour. Welcome back on a Thursday
Speaker 1: morning across the great state of Michigan. Here on Exes
Speaker 1: and Bros. We're with you Monday through Friday, six until nine.
Speaker 1: Excited for football season to begin, and really excited to
Speaker 1: see what Jonathan Smith's impact will be on the Spartan
Speaker 1: football program. Nobody knows it better than Graham Couch to
Speaker 1: the Lansing State Journal. You can follow him on Twitter
Speaker 1: or on ex Graham underscore Couch and he joins us
Speaker 1: here on Exes and Bros. Grab Good morning to you.
Speaker 1: How are you and your family good?
Speaker 2: Doing well? Yeah, it's good to be with you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, same new season, always fresh start. You wrote yesterday
Speaker 1: in your article positive vibes at Tuesday's first practice. What
Speaker 1: were those positive vibes that you noticed?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know there's an exhale and an eagerness that
Speaker 2: you just you can feel it, and you know, I
Speaker 2: think you know, fans will often relate to the feeling
Speaker 2: that last year was just misery, right, and it was
Speaker 2: once mel Tucker was fired and you're a couple of
Speaker 2: weeks into the season, nothing good was really going to
Speaker 2: come out of that season. They lost some heartbreaking ways,
Speaker 2: and by the end they really just wanted a competitive
Speaker 2: football team, and the players felt that too. I mean,
Speaker 2: I think it was miserable to go through. There were
Speaker 2: some embarrassing moments, and you're just waiting for something new.
Speaker 2: It's like you lose a season, and so the fact
Speaker 2: that you're now on the doorstep of another one with
Speaker 2: a fresh start and a new coach. I think those
Speaker 2: are things that you can just tell that those guys are.
Speaker 2: It's the way they talk about the season. It's the
Speaker 2: way they you know, every season is something new. Is optimism.
Speaker 2: We all know that that's sports, but you can feel
Speaker 2: it when you're you're coming off something that was really bad.
Speaker 1: Grant, it's really too early to even try to gauge
Speaker 1: the impact that Jonathan Smith is going to have on
Speaker 1: a program, but first impressions are pretty important. What's your
Speaker 1: first impression of Jonathan Smith, the guy who I thought
Speaker 1: was an ideal higher for this position.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that he's a no frills personality in terms of,
Speaker 2: you know, as a coach, but he's a very competent coach.
Speaker 2: And that doesn't mean he's a no frills offense or
Speaker 2: no frills in terms of style. But you know, he's
Speaker 2: a guy who cares about football and his family, so
Speaker 2: to speak, and doesn't really care about a whole lot
Speaker 2: else like he like when he when he speaks to
Speaker 2: the media, for example, sometimes he doesn't say a whole
Speaker 2: lot more than Mel Tucker, but he says it in
Speaker 2: very shorter, distinct sentences, and so he gets through it
Speaker 2: clicker and he almost speaks like Yoda sometimes where he
Speaker 2: puts the words in opposite order and it's it's uh, yeah,
Speaker 2: he has been you know. And I also think that
Speaker 2: there is a an all business sort of truth serum
Speaker 2: that he and his staff have brought to the program
Speaker 2: that the players have appreciated, especially those returning. I mean,
Speaker 2: some of the early conversations guys had with him and
Speaker 2: his staff were about not trying to convince them to stay,
Speaker 2: not trying, you know, we're about what they needed to
Speaker 2: get better at quickly, and if you know, if they
Speaker 2: wanted to maximize who they were, and the coaches that
Speaker 2: already looked through their film it are there's a you know,
Speaker 2: I think there's a sense from the guys that that
Speaker 2: it's not about it doesn't feel like it's about him,
Speaker 2: and I think that is an important thing for them.
Speaker 3: I love that truth serum. That's good stuff.
Speaker 1: Graham Couch, Lancon's State Journal, joining his fall him on
Speaker 1: ex Graham underscore Couch, where's the biggest buzz do you think?
Speaker 2: Well? I mean, I think quarterback is the physician people
Speaker 2: are most intrigued by. And because you bring in a
Speaker 2: guy like Aiden Chiles, who was a big time recruit
Speaker 2: who was, you know something, a physician they really struggled
Speaker 2: at last year. He's got, you know, quick feet, he's
Speaker 2: a playmaker, a big arm. The thing is, and I
Speaker 2: do wonder about a little bit how this is going
Speaker 2: to go. And I think people need to realize that
Speaker 2: he doesn't turn nineteen until this after the second game
Speaker 2: of the season.
Speaker 3: And wow, I didn't know that.
Speaker 2: So he is a young freshman. I mean, most of
Speaker 2: the freshmen to come in now the in the year
Speaker 2: of like AJ Hogard and Hunter Dickenson, are like twenty
Speaker 2: six by the time they dribble a basketball in college.
Speaker 2: But but you know, he's a young freshman and he's
Speaker 2: he's never been a starter. I mean, he came off
Speaker 2: the bench last year at Oregon State and he was
Speaker 2: brought in to be the future there. But he's gonna
Speaker 2: have to grow into things too. I think the thing
Speaker 2: that will be more joyful for MSU fans this year,
Speaker 2: even if the record isn't great, is there will be
Speaker 2: moments of playmaking. There will be moments of promise. There
Speaker 2: be moments where you see what will be or what
Speaker 2: can be down the road. You've got a quarterback going
Speaker 2: to allow you to maybe punch up and some given games.
Speaker 2: I also think they're his targets are going to be
Speaker 2: pretty good. I think they're going to be pretty sound
Speaker 2: at receiver and tight end. And I think that gives
Speaker 2: you a chance to I mean, you know, if you
Speaker 2: don't have the line of scrimmage, that's going to punish people,
Speaker 2: if you don't have a defense that's going to some
Speaker 2: other people. You've got to have playmakers on offense that
Speaker 2: give you a chance on a given day to have
Speaker 2: a day and to upset somebody or be in a
Speaker 2: game people don't anticipate. And I think they may have
Speaker 2: that dynamic. They may also have a dynamic for a
Speaker 2: young quarterback where he throws some picks and they lose
Speaker 2: some games they could have won. But I think that's
Speaker 2: where the biggest optimism.
Speaker 1: Is you and I have covered sports for a long
Speaker 1: long time. We understand the word patience, but a lot
Speaker 1: of fans get tired of it, especially those who follow
Speaker 1: the Tigers, the Red Wings, and the Pistons. So I'm
Speaker 1: not asking you to use that word here with Jonathan Smith,
Speaker 1: nor do I suggest he's used. But what word would
Speaker 1: you use as miss Again State fans ask you about
Speaker 1: this upcoming season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, uh, it's a good question, I said. I don't
Speaker 2: want to say, really, I think fans are realistic with this,
Speaker 2: you know, I would it's a good where I would say,
Speaker 2: you know, I think people have the right to be hopeful,
Speaker 2: and I think there is a level of you know,
Speaker 2: sort of living the moment joy that you're going to
Speaker 2: be able to have with this team and some of
Speaker 2: the most enjoyable teams. You know, everything's relative to expectations, right,
Speaker 2: Like I covered to the Michigan State teams in the
Speaker 2: D'Antonio era where they were winning a ton or they
Speaker 2: went to the year they went to the playoff, there
Speaker 2: wasn't a ton of joy throughout the season because it
Speaker 2: was no longer it no longer meant anything to like
Speaker 2: beat Purdue, right, you had to go ten and one.
Speaker 2: When they lost a Nebraska that year, it seemed like
Speaker 2: that was going to cost them dearly, like that that
Speaker 2: was such a monumental failure, and it was one game
Speaker 2: on the road, And so in a season like this,
Speaker 2: you don't get that. What you get is you're able
Speaker 2: to enjoy the small victories. Every victory matters. You're able
Speaker 2: to enjoy the one up. Like they have a stretch
Speaker 2: of games where they play Ohio State at home, they're
Speaker 2: at Oregon six days later, they have a buye, they
Speaker 2: host Isle of the I think it's going to be
Speaker 2: pretty good, and then they are at Michigan. Like, that's
Speaker 2: a nasty four game stretch, and if you can win
Speaker 2: one of those four games, you've probably get in yourself
Speaker 2: a real chance to get to six seven wins, maybe
Speaker 2: you know, maybe seven for sure in that sense, and
Speaker 2: that that's something you can take joy and they won't
Speaker 2: feel like a looting streak or oh they went one
Speaker 2: and three in this stretch. One and three in that
Speaker 2: stretch is something I think people will will understand and
Speaker 2: feel okay about. What you want is them to be
Speaker 2: competitive in a couple of those games and try to
Speaker 2: steal one somewhere. It's probably not going to be Ohio
Speaker 2: State or organ so you're looking on the back end
Speaker 2: of that.
Speaker 1: I love that word hopeful, and I think it's appropriate
Speaker 1: as we talk. Graham Couch, the Lansing State Journal, Follow
Speaker 1: him on x follow him on Twitter. Graham underscore Couch.
Speaker 1: It's not just Smith though. There are new coaches, a
Speaker 1: new staff, a new implementation of playbooks and signals and
Speaker 1: calls and things of that nature. Generally, who has stood
Speaker 1: out to you early on that MSU fans should be
Speaker 1: excited about from a coaching standpoint, And how long do
Speaker 1: you think it takes these young student athletes, who are
Speaker 1: constantly pressed for their personal time and social time because
Speaker 1: of the commitment they've made in football, to fully grasp
Speaker 1: the new terminology and playbooks that Michigan State coaches are
Speaker 1: implementing with them.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean for some of them it's you know,
Speaker 2: this is the or at least one guy's a third
Speaker 2: coach ian. These guys are committed to D'Antonio. Yep, you
Speaker 2: know that's it's a good question. You know, like Joe Rossie,
Speaker 2: the defensive coordinator they got from Minnesota and was revered there,
Speaker 2: and I think looked at that he needed another place
Speaker 2: to get to where he wants to go as a
Speaker 2: head coach. There's a lot of I mean, there have
Speaker 2: been some impressive conversations with guys, but I don't really
Speaker 2: know them as coaches. Like I don't like the coaches
Speaker 2: credit for being really smooth talkers or good conversationalist before
Speaker 2: you see that what the sort of the fruits of
Speaker 2: what they're they're doing. But Rossi is a guy who's
Speaker 2: who's who's proven, and I think brings a welcome change
Speaker 2: on that defense, and guys have taken to pretty well.
Speaker 2: I think that was a really really strong hire and
Speaker 2: and that's important when you're an offensive coach. And look,
Speaker 2: Jonathan Smith knows this because he's been a head coach
Speaker 2: for a while and he's had success. But when you're
Speaker 2: an offensive coach, first, you've got to get a strong
Speaker 2: defensive coordinator. You've got to get somebody on that end
Speaker 2: who's seasoned, who's really good, who can run that show,
Speaker 2: because that's that's not your expertise, that's not your world.
Speaker 2: And I think he did that there and I think that's,
Speaker 2: you know, be interesting to see how quickly that shows
Speaker 2: itself they lost some guys in the portal that were
Speaker 2: key guys. They've got some guys that came in. There's
Speaker 2: been more turnover this year than been in a lot
Speaker 2: of other years, and so it's unclear how good they'll be.
Speaker 2: But sometimes you know, you're you know, this covering a
Speaker 2: lot of college football at different levels. You know, like
Speaker 2: if you get a coach who simplifies things, who you
Speaker 2: get a couple of guys who can get to the quarterback,
Speaker 2: and you get some confidence early on in what you're doing,
Speaker 2: you can have a defense that plays above itself all year,
Speaker 2: and that's what MSU really needs.
Speaker 1: You wrote really well yesterday about the importance of Montory
Speaker 1: Foster and Cal Holliday sticking.
Speaker 3: Around for fifth years.
Speaker 1: What is most important with that type of leadership, commitment
Speaker 1: and belief in this new coaching staff, do you think, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, I think if you want to be a developmental
Speaker 2: program in a day and age when the transfer portal
Speaker 2: allows people to transfer without sitting out as many times
Speaker 2: as want, in a day and age where the answer
Speaker 2: is often to get into portal, and there's a lot
Speaker 2: of you know, an eyel inducement. You know, there's a
Speaker 2: lot out there for people to consider when they're not
Speaker 2: playing right away, when patience is hard to have. You
Speaker 2: have guys who committed to D'Antonio and and Maverick Hansen
Speaker 2: spent a year under D'Antonio red shirt, but he played
Speaker 2: on that it was on that team. And then you
Speaker 2: know Montry Foster and Cal Halliday, as you mentioned that
Speaker 2: those guys were they've been through it, and what they
Speaker 2: basically choke, you know, decided was this is a place
Speaker 2: they liked being, and this is a program they liked being.
Speaker 2: And then the answer for them wasn't to seek somewhere else.
Speaker 2: And all these guys were guys that they want to
Speaker 2: have been huge gets on the free agent market, so
Speaker 2: to speak, but they would have had options and and
Speaker 2: I'm not talking about options going to Akron. I'm talking
Speaker 2: about options at the high major level. And to choose that,
Speaker 2: I think it speaks to sort of a grass isn't
Speaker 2: always greener with them, you know. And then look, the
Speaker 2: transfer portal works for some guys, but if you're going
Speaker 2: to read a developmental program that in this day and age,
Speaker 2: you need examples of that. You need older guys in
Speaker 2: the program who've been through it, who you know, have
Speaker 2: waited their turn or or have seen things go wrong
Speaker 2: come out the other side. You need people to you know,
Speaker 2: patience right, and not everybody has that voice in their life.
Speaker 2: And if they've got it in their teammates, I think
Speaker 2: that makes a big difference.
Speaker 3: Where will the strength of this team lie.
Speaker 2: That's a really good question, you know, I think because
Speaker 2: there's a chance they're I think they're pretty good at linebacker.
Speaker 2: There's a chance they're okay in the secondary. You know,
Speaker 2: one of these years, if there, if that's the offensive line,
Speaker 2: that would really help, but it's been about a decade
Speaker 2: since that was the case. I think it's going to
Speaker 2: be in the in the offense, in their playmakers, in
Speaker 2: their ability to to punch up at those positions and
Speaker 2: to create there uh you know, to have you know,
Speaker 2: not just Childs, but Nick marsh is a freshman that
Speaker 2: people are really high on. It's a and you know,
Speaker 2: freshman receivers is a dangerous vision and get hyped about.
Speaker 2: But I do think he'll contribute. A big body guy
Speaker 2: and it plays in the spring game. People have already
Speaker 2: talked about on Tory Foster, I think is a you know,
Speaker 2: he's this isn't like a Charles Rogers Plaxico Burth type,
Speaker 2: but he's a capable go to guy and he's got
Speaker 2: a little more juice to him than than maybe they
Speaker 2: had there a year ago. And Duran Glover and so
Speaker 2: I think there's a veling at tight end. I think
Speaker 2: there's there's some pieces there that that give them a
Speaker 2: chance to be to be good moving the ball through
Speaker 2: the air. And Nate Carter has an experienced back, and
Speaker 2: when he was healthy last year, I thought he was
Speaker 2: he was pretty effective. So I think there they'll be.
Speaker 2: They'll be fine there, and I think they'll have enough to,
Speaker 2: you know, to give people problems here and there. The
Speaker 2: question is whether they have the consistency, whether they have
Speaker 2: the other parts where they have the line. But I
Speaker 2: think that is one area that I would be surprised
Speaker 2: if they aren't pretty good.
Speaker 1: I always felt that when when MI Michigan was at
Speaker 1: the peak of their program, they were identified more than
Speaker 1: anything else by being badasses. On defense. They were just
Speaker 1: tough as nails. It was tough to run the ball.
Speaker 1: You were going to be in an absolute war when
Speaker 1: you played Michigan State, whether it be home or road.
Speaker 1: What should should in your mind, be their identity in
Speaker 1: year one under Jonathan Smith.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good question, because I think what their
Speaker 2: identity is now might be different from what it is
Speaker 2: down the road. And I mean I think it needs
Speaker 2: to be you know, competent football, a team that can
Speaker 2: hit you and a team that can hit you back
Speaker 2: when you hit them. You know, I think there needs
Speaker 2: to be a resiliency and there's the talent to do it.
Speaker 2: I think long term, I mean at MSU, and they
Speaker 2: haven't had this for a long time, there is a
Speaker 2: zero excuse not to have better offensive lines than they've had,
Speaker 2: and that used to be something that was a real
Speaker 2: staple of I mean, obviously the defense was incredible, but
Speaker 2: you look at the best lines they had into their
Speaker 2: best years. And in the nil world, you know, lineman
Speaker 2: don't go for what quarterbacks do. I would I would
Speaker 2: put a real emphasis on that and making that your
Speaker 2: identity because I think that's one area you could really
Speaker 2: recruit among you know, some of the best in the country.
Speaker 2: Linemen are a different sort of it's a different recruitment.
Speaker 2: You know, like some of the big guys in basketball,
Speaker 2: they commit early. They like to find a place they're comfortable.
Speaker 2: You know, they haven't been actually the darlings of the
Speaker 2: school in high school. It's a different it's a different feel,
Speaker 2: and that's where I think the program if they are
Speaker 2: going to in the vision of Jonathan Smith, if they
Speaker 2: are going to compete then for championships. In that vision,
Speaker 2: I think they need to build something there that's consistent
Speaker 2: and and really in the upper tier of the Big Ten.
Speaker 1: All right, lastly before I let you go, and I
Speaker 1: appreciate all the insight to Jonathan Smith and a lot
Speaker 1: of his staff coming from Washington State, where their rival
Speaker 1: was Washington and where they're playing in the Pac twelve
Speaker 1: and they're playing for an Apple Cup, and now they
Speaker 1: get a different dial of a conference and you're playing
Speaker 1: for the Paul Bunyan Trophy and other trophies. How long
Speaker 1: does it take do you think for new coaching staffs
Speaker 1: to recognize, appreciate and feel the rivalries of Big Ten
Speaker 1: opponents compared to another conference.
Speaker 2: It's a good question, And I mean, I do think
Speaker 2: the feel of being at Oregon State with the dynamic
Speaker 2: of Oregon has some similarities to Michigan State and Michigan
Speaker 2: not entirely, but that feeling that somebody's you know, somebody
Speaker 2: thinks they're better than you. That feeling that Michigan State
Speaker 2: has felt for forever and right now it certainly is
Speaker 2: true on the football field. So I think that helped.
Speaker 2: But that's a good I think you have to feel it.
Speaker 2: I think you have to experience it. I think you
Speaker 2: have to be out there and there has to be
Speaker 2: you know, because you see Jonathan Smith and Sean more
Speaker 2: now you know, very very cordial, and they should. I'm
Speaker 2: not saying that's that's a bad thing.
Speaker 3: I think that is.
Speaker 2: The Lion rivalry was really healthy because so finally had
Speaker 2: a coach he really respected and actually liked there, and
Speaker 2: that I just I think that stuff's fine. But I
Speaker 2: do think you have to feel it. You have to feel.
Speaker 2: You have to lose once, you have to feel embarrassed.
Speaker 2: You have to feel how the fan base feels and
Speaker 2: the emails and letters and conversations you get about that
Speaker 2: rivalry game all the time. And it doesn't take long.
Speaker 2: I mean, mel Tucker had been there before, but he
Speaker 2: got it pretty quickly, and you know, and I think
Speaker 2: other than you know, obviously things went wrong at the end,
Speaker 2: but like winning, having success in that rivalry, which he did.
Speaker 2: You know, if other things have gone differently, would have
Speaker 2: bought him some time in terms of how people felt. Now.
Speaker 2: The thing that's different now than it was for D'Antonio
Speaker 2: is that Michigan's just winning at such a high level,
Speaker 2: and that drives Michigan State fans not so there is
Speaker 2: a Michigan continues to play like they have, you know,
Speaker 2: like they were the last couple years. That just adds
Speaker 2: to the sort of the fervor to get it done
Speaker 2: and start winning those games. But yeah, you'll feel it
Speaker 2: the second you play it, I think can You'll feel
Speaker 2: it if there's a little disrespect in the game or
Speaker 2: there's and you'll feel it from your own fan base
Speaker 2: if things don't go well or even if they do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's great stuff, man. I think I misspoken, said
Speaker 1: Washington State. I'm in Oregon State. Great stuff, Graham. Keep
Speaker 1: up the great workman, Lancey State Journal. Enjoy the articles
Speaker 1: very much, enjoy the coverage. Don't be a stranger. Really
Speaker 1: look forward to you covering the Spartans for another award
Speaker 1: winning season.
Speaker 3: Thanks for everything. We'll talk to you soon, Okay.
Speaker 2: Yeah, great to talk to again. Matt