Jonathan Smith on Michigan State football NCAA punishment, investigation: ‘I did not know’
MSU football punishments for NCAA violations under Mel Tucker
Explaining the MSU football punishments announced Nov. 12, 2025, for NCAA violations committed from 2022-24.
EAST LANSING – Jonathan Smith tried to process another tough loss on Saturday, Nov. 15, to end another tough week.
As well as wondering just exactly what he got himself into as Michigan State football coach.
A seventh straight loss – 28-10 to equally struggling Penn State – came three days after having his first season entirely vacated Wednesday due to NCAA violations that took place under Mel Tucker’s watch from 2022-23.
Smith, whose punishment came due to having a player on last year’s team deemed retroactively ineligible by the NCAA in January this year, was asked a simple question: Did he know there was an investigation into the program happening when he accepted the job in November 2023 and left his alma mater, Oregon State, to replace Tucker.
“No, I did not know,” the 46-year-old said.
The NCAA and MSU agreed on a negotiated resolution, released Wednesday, that includes three years of probation for the violations during Tucker’s tenure and fines of $30,000 plus 1.5% of the football program’s budget because former staff members “arranged for and provided impermissible recruiting inducements and benefits and unofficial visit expenses.” The Spartans also are being forced to vacate 14 wins from 2022-24 due to participation of three former players who were deemed ineligible during that time. That includes the removal of Smith’s five wins from a year ago.
Asked Saturday how an ineligible player managed to play for MSU last season, Smith paused and pursed his lips: “Mmmmhmm,” he nodded.
“That’s a good question,” Smith continued. “Because oftentimes – all the time – any player that participates in an NCAA game is cleared eligilbity-wise through compliance offices. And so, on our end, we were not aware of that when it was taking place.”
Asked about the vacated wins, Smith said he did not agree with the negotiated resolution between the NCAA and MSU.
“And I think that’s similar to the stance that Michigan State (is taking), that we don’t totally agree,” Smith said. “I think we can modernize – ‘modernize,’ I think, was part of the quote – how penalties are enforced.”
Smith said he was informed early this year about the severity of the case, which began with MSU self-reporting a potential Level III violation in June 2023. The NCAA said the school reached out again on Aug. 29, 2023, after an internal audit found, from Oct. 30, 2021-March 18, 2023, that program general manager Saeed Khalif, assistant coach Brandon Jordan and/or other football staff members offered and paid for travel, lodging and other benefits to six recruits.
As that process began, then-athletic director Alan Haller suspended Tucker on Sept. 10, 2023, without pay for a non-football Title IX violation – allegations of masturbating on a phone call with sexual assault victims rights advocate Brenda Tracy. Haller ultimately fired Tucker on Sept. 27, 2023, for violating the moral turpitude clause in his contract, a 10-year, $95 million guaranteed extension backed by donors and agreed to during the Spartans’ 11-2 season in 2021. Tucker was due roughly $75 million through 2032 before being fired for violating that clause in his contract.
The university, in an October 2023 decision, determined Tucker sexually harassed Tracy, a violation of school policy. Tucker filed a wrongful termination suit against MSU in July 2024, and Tracy has sued both Tucker and MSU. Those cases remain ongoing.
The NCAA in its punishment Wednesday handed Khalif a six-year show-cause order, Jordan a five-year show-cause and Tucker a three-year show-cause.
The day after the 2023 season ended – Nov. 25, 2023 – the school announced the hiring of Smith. He went 5-7 during his debut in 2024 with the Spartans, missing a bowl game.
After multiple extensions and delays throughout 2024, the NCAA enforcement arm called an allegation review board on Nov. 6, 2024. After another delay in December, the NCAA’s dashboard of infractions shows that “all participating parties had a status conference” with the chair of the Committee on Infractions on Jan. 21 this year “to discuss resolution paths for the parties.”
That is around the time MSU learned of a unspecified player from Smith’s 2024 team who was retroactively deemed ineligible. The NCAA alleged that from Jan. 3-6, 2022, Khalif provided $3,075 for one-way airfare for three athletes who eventually “competed in 26 contests while ineligible” and round-trip flights for their respective family members. Those athletes played for MSU in 2022, 2023 and in 2024.
A school spokesman said MSU’s compliance department was unaware of the ineligibility until that point. None of the three athletes remain at the university.
MSU also will receive restrictions on official visits, unofficial visits, recruiting communication, recruiting-person days and off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations over a three-year probationary period.
“We weren’t talking about this to recruit,” Smith said. “Where I’m going is in spring recruiting this year, we were proactively lessening the amount of evaluation days, lessening the amount of visits this fall. We’re definitely talking (to) the current recruits right now, knowing that this is all in our past and will not impact in any way their experience here at Michigan State.”
Tucker was hired by then-athletic director Bill Beekman on Feb. 16, 2020, to replace Mark Dantonio after MSU’s all-time winningest coach abruptly retired 12 days earlier. Haller replaced Beekman in 2022, then was fired in May 1 this year. New athletic director J Batt was hired a month later.
Batt, who was in Smith’s postgame interview as usual, has not commented on the case beyond his joint statement with school president Kevin Guskiewicz. Ultimately, Batt has to decide on the future of the program, as well as Smith’s job.
On his end, Smith maintained his typical level-headed public self. But he also pushed for more time to rebuild MSU through the problems he inherited.
“We want to have some success and win a game. I do think we’re showing that these guys are playing with great effort, and it means a ton to them,” he said. “We gotta get better, we gotta grow, we gotta develop. We need another year of development of the current roster and the recruiting class to keep getting this thing in a better direction.
“I’m still confident in our approach. Yeah, this game is not for the shy. This ain’t easy – this is a big-time league. It’s competitive and tough, you’re playing big-time coaches and players week in and week out. And we’ve taken a couple of lumps. … We’re taking some body blows, is what we’ll call it. I know it’s not a lack of effort out of this coaching staff and those players in there.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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