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SPORTS COMMENTARY Smith should have been given more time by James Andersen
After saying four weeks ago that they would evaluate the football program at season’s end, Michigan State University officials fired head football coach John L. Smith early Wednesday morning. “This is a man who cares deeply about his student-athletes. He cares a lot about his assistant coaches and he cares a lot about Michigan State,” said MSU Athletic Director Ron Mason shortly after he announced Smith’s firing. Despite his termination, Smith will continue his duties until season’s end. The general sentiment around campus seems to be one of relief to most people. They’ve grown tired of seeing the Spartans lose close games this season and play horribly in games they are favored to win. To a lot of people, anybody who coaches the football team instead of John L. Smith is an improvement. All the factors for Smith’s firing seem to be in place. He couldn’t finish in big games against ranked opponents. He coached conservatively when MSU was ahead in games and seemed destined for victory, only to lose them in heartbreaking fashion. During this season, he seemed to lose control over his players as several of them were involved in off the field incidents. After losing games he was often at a loss for words, resorting to other tactics (like the infamous slap after the Illinois loss). Yes, all the evidence needed to fire him was there, but perhaps John L. Smith should have been given more time to prove himself. John L. Smith came to MSU as a relative unknown and revived the football program, leading them to a bowl game. But it seemed he was always under some kind of scrutiny from somewhere. “He was criticized on his first day here; that’s a tough way to get started,” Mason said later. People never gave him a chance to begin, calling for his firing constantly. Imagine how that must have felt to a coach who was trying to resurrect a program and lead it to glory. How can a coach in any sport attempt to become a likeable guy when right from the start, people ridicule him? John L. was never given a chance. Smith embodies the sort of coach that the Spartans needed. He is a dynamic speaker and can command attention in a room (way better than Lloyd Carr). Who can forget his halftime rant against Ohio State last year? Or his enraged “because I said it was like that” two years ago (also against OSU). He wouldn’t have said those things if he wasn’t concerned about the team. Obviously this man cares deeply about the team as Mason suggested. Yes, both of these instances were blamed on coaches, but Smith is an eccentric person who has been a crucial part of his team’s success and failures. It seems that in every sport, regardless of the circumstances, the coach is always the one who gets the boot; even if he wins. Take teams here in Michigan for example: Former Red Wings coach Dave Lewis was fired because he couldn’t win in the playoffs. Rick Carlisle was fired by the Pistons after he led them to a division title, to make room for Larry Brown. Steve Mariucci was fired by the Lions for many of the same reasons Smith was fired: a losing record, inability to control players, a lack of consistency. Even if Smith had been successful here, he may have been fired anyway for whatever reason. He was chosen as the guy who would dig the Spartans out of the mess left by Bobby Williams, and now he will leave in much the same way as Williams did: disliked by fans and with a losing record. What reason is there for fans to believe that the next guy won’t fall into the same hole as his predecessors? This season has been painful to watch and experience it’s true, but everything can’t be attributed to Smith alone. The Spartans have been hampered by injures and haven’t been able to put the best players on the field as a result. How could Smith have foreseen that by now Javon Ringer, Matt Trannon and others would be out of action? As for the off-field incidents, Smith did a good thing kicking them off the team. These players don’t have the right to act unruly simply for being on full scholarship and Smith can’t monitor them 24/7. Some of Smith’s coaching methods can be brought into question, but how is it his fault when Drew Stanton throws the football right to a receiver and the receiver drops it? How about when a defensive end gets beaten on a route by another receiver? John L. Smith is indeed the head coach, but he is not the only one at fault. So now MSU is left with three remaining games and a potential bowl game, and then no coach. It’s a shame because the players say they are behind Smith, and no doubt they will stick with him to the end. What happens if the Spartans win their final games, and Smith leads them to victory in a bowl game? Is he now the hailed hero or the forgotten failure? Whatever the case, Smith should had been given another year, with a healthy team, and new players, to prove his legitimacy as a coach to everyone that doubted him. At least we can hope that everyone will give the new guy at least a few games until they call for his head.
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