While some fans may be getting antsy about the future of Michigan State football under head coach Jonathan Smith, that feeling is not shared by the writers at CBS Sports.
The CBS Sports team released their annual hot seat rankings and ratings for all 136 FBS coaches earlier this week, and Smith wasn’t remotely near the a point of concern on their ballots. The rating system is on a one to five scale, with the following rubric in place:
So where did Smith land after a 5-7 campaign in year one as the Spartans head man? In the “Safe and secure” section with a rating of 1.78. That is a slight boost from last year’s rating of 1 in CBS Sports’ hot seat rankings.
In comparing across his peers in the Big Ten, Smith was in the upper half of the league of safest coaches. From the Big Ten, Luke Fickell of Wisconsin, Lincoln Riley of USC and Mike Locksley of Maryland had the highest hot seat rating but all were in the “Pressure is mounting” section.
From my point of view, another bad season from Smith could see his rating shoot up into the range of Fickell, Riley and Locksley next year. But just reaching a bowl game this fall should keep Smith safe and secure at this time next fall.
Click on the post below to read the complete article on the hot seat rankings and to see who has the hottest seat of all 136 FBS coaches.
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This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: MSU’s Jonathan Smith considered ‘safe and secure’ in CBS Sports’ hot seat rankings
Reporting by Robert Bondy, Spartans Wire / Spartans Wire
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