MSU QB Aidan Chiles grades his performance against Michigan
Chiles graded his performance as a ‘D-minus’ in MSU’s 31-20 loss to Michigan, Oct. 25, 2025 at Spartan Stadium.
Jonathan Smith can’t possibly spend much time on social media these days. Unless he’s a masochist, and while he took a job where even Nick Saban couldn’t win big, it’s hard to imagine the Michigan State football coach actually enjoys pain.
Who does? (On second thought, don’t answer that.)
Anyway, let’s hope he’s staying off X, if only for his own relative peace of mind. Surely, he knows all he’d find is a largely disillusioned and increasingly irate fanbase.
Still, it’s one thing to stumble across a bevy of impatient/know-it-all/McArmchair Quarterbacks, and a whole other thing to come across … Magic Johnson?
MSU’s most famous and beloved alum, known for his Quaker-esque social-media takes?
Johnson may have seen angles on a basketball court the way Picasso saw cubes, but his savant-like gifts on the hardwood haven’t translated to the digital realm, where his tweets – or posts, or whatever – are, with all due respect, a remembrance of all things vanilla and obvious.
Here was Johnson on his Los Angeles Dodgers (he’s a part-owner) after the Toronto Blue Jays won Game 4 of the World Series: “With the Series being 2-2, Game 5 is very important. Whichever team wins takes control of the Series!”
When he does occasionally come with an opinion, it almost always veers toward optimism. (Not the worst thing in the world in this time of toxic digital stew.)
Here was Johnson after his Dodgers lost game 5: “Even though my @Dodgers lost to the Blue Jays last night, this Series is so great and must-see-TV!”
Now there’s a reasonable sports fan. Not that Johnson is any ol’ fan.
Since his playing days wrapped up, Johnson has put his money where his rooting interests are, buying into the ownership groups of the Dodgers, the NFL’s Washington Commanders, the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, MLS’ Los Angeles FC and the NWSL’s Washington Spirit. Yet ownership doesn’t get the blood boiling like alumni-hood does.
Nothing like your first love, right?
Or like losing to a hated rival, and when MSU lost to Michigan on Saturday night in East Lansing – the Spartans’ fifth loss in a row – Johnson had finally had it.
Out went Mr. Congeniality. In came Monday Morning Talk Show Caller, only Johnson didn’t take to the local airwaves. He didn’t need to. He took to X (formerly known as Twitter):
“It’s been hard for me to cheer for my Michigan State Football team. They are 0-5 in the Big Ten, the offense is lacking imagination, and the team overall looks uninspired.”
Lacking imagination?
Uninspired?
Whoa.
He might as well have been screaming. Or cursing. Or both. This is the same person who recently posted about his Commanders, after their blowout by the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 20:
“… what a difference a year makes. We had very few injuries last season but a lot so far this season.”
He wasn’t blaming the coach, the quarterback, or the scheme, or even the schedule. He was blaming injuries, which is fair, but not entirely the full explanation of how the Commanders went from last season’s NFC title game to a 3-5 start.
Yeah, the NFL is unforgiving this way. Teams fall off from year to year every year. But in addition to the Commanders’ injuries, they also … haven’t played well. But Johnson wasn’t going to say that. It’s not how he rolls on social media.
Not with the teams in which he has a financial stake. Not with the team that made him a global star.
Here was Johnson after the Los Angeles Lakers’ opening night loss to Golden State:
“The two Golden State superstars put on a performance – Jimmy Butler had … 31 points and (Steph) Curry added 23, but Lakers superstar Luka Doncic stole the show with 43 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists in a losing effort.”
But with the team wearing the green and white close to his heart since his teenage years?
Uninspired … lacking imagination …
It doesn’t take the Hubble Space Telescope to read between those lines. That wasn’t just a shot at the strategy on offense; that was a shot at the vibe of the Spartans and Smith, their coach.
Johnson has given millions to MSU in the four-plus decades since he left East Lansing. No doubt he’ll give more. Though he isn’t a Mat Ishbia-level donor, his voice carries weight. Johnson knows this. And he knew what he was posting earlier this week.
He sounded ready for change. Short of a miracle turnaround in the next four games, Johnson will almost certainly see it happen, as he implied.
As for Smith? It could be worse.
At least he doesn’t have to contend with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer – MSU Class of 1993 – ripping him from a few miles down the road, like Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry did to LSU’s athletic director over football coach Brian Kelly’s buyout.
So there is that.
Contact Shawn Windsor: swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.
