INDIANAPOLIS — Since 2007, the Michigan football vs. MSU rivalry has gone to another level. Starting with Mark Dantonio against Lloyd Carr, the pre-and-postgame war of words was the catalyst for a matchup that eventually became toxic.
Both teams have had multiple coaches since. Dantonio lasted for some time in East Lansing (giving way to the short-lived Mel Tucker era), while Michigan had Jim Harbaugh for nine years. But the rivalry boiled over in 2022 when a handful of Spartan players accosted two Wolverines in the Michigan Stadium tunnel after the 29-7 win by the maize and blue.
Tucker has since been fired, and Harlon Barnett served as the interim for much of last year. Now former Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith left his alma mater to oversee the Spartans, in hopes of forging another turnaround.
When it comes to the rivalry, Smith recognizes that there will be heated emotions, but he speaks of the battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy like any other rivalry, sharing generalizations that could come from playing any other in-state team.
“It’s going to be passionate and those things,” Smith said at Big Ten media days on Wednesday. “I enjoy being in an in-state rivalry — really for my whole coaching career — where there’s an in-state rivalry that took place. And I think that’s (great) for college football and the traditions and then go with that.
“Look, every game means something, but that game will mean a whole lot.”
When further asked what he’s learned about the rivalry, again, Smith speaks in platitudes, not offering much other than general observations that could be used to describe any two teams sharing a state.
“Just (hear) it means a lot,” Smith said. “It’s a state divided. Even families divided, which is common in other rivalries. Again, I go back to I think it’s a great thing for college football.”
In late May, new Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore and Smith were seen walking together, with Moore even briefly putting his arm around his newfound rival. That was just the second time the two have met, and Smith says he hadn’t met Moore prior to joining the Spartans.
“No, I guess at the Big Ten meetings I bumped into him, but that was the first time,” Smith said. “We don’t have a lot of communication. It’s fine. But I pay him respect for what he was contributing to the last few years at that place.”
Perhaps Smith not having much of an understanding (at least not that he’s talking about) of what’s transpired in recent years between the rivals is a good thing. This is a rivalry in desperate need of civility, and though it had seemed that it was possible when Mel Tucker replaced Mark Dantonio, his short tenure only served to inflame tensions rather than calm them.