Oregon State AD Scott Barnes issues statement on Jonathan Smith

Oregon State AD releases statement as the coaching carousel begins to spin.

Despite the fact that the Oregon State Beavers are just days from their annual matchup with the Oregon Ducks, there is plenty of speculation about the future of the football program. More importantly, what is the future of head coach Jonathan Smith?

Smith has been among the names for open jobs around the country and on Wednesday, it seemed like he might be the guy for the Michigan State Spartans. It was first reported by Football Scoop, that he was the key target for the open job that has been on the market the longest. Northwestern was previously the job on the market the longest but they removed the interim tag from David Braun, filling that vacancy.

Shortly after the reports of Smith potentially going to East Lansing once the regular season ends, Athletic Director Scott Barnes issued a statement on the future of the Beavers football program and head coach Jonathan Smith.

“Coach Smith and I have had ongoing conversations for more than a month regarding his future at Oregon State and our path forward for football specifically and our athletic department generally. He has embraced our short and long term plans. My No. 1 priority is providing him with a new contract and guaranteed compensation that will help continue the success of the football program that has benefitted Oregon State University and Beavers’ Athletics. Coach Smith and I have also discussed our commitment to extending assistant coaches’ contracts and increasing the salary pool for his staff to retain the continuity of what they have all built together for Beaver Nation.”

It isn’t surprising that Smith is in high demand, not only for his current university but others around the program. The former Oregon State quarterback has won 18 games to just six losses in the last two seasons. If you span back further to 2021, Smith is 25-12 in that span. What is interesting about the statement by AD Barnes is the fact that it doesn’t say anything bout Smith being retained or signing a new contract as of yet.

Smith is earning a salary of $4.85 million this season according to the USA TODAY Sports coach salary database. He would owe a buyout of $17.53 million if he were to break his contract.

With the uncertainty of Oregon State and their football conference, I wouldn’t be shocked if he took a job elsewhere. After all, he did say his agent better be “finding out what is out there”.