Michigan St coach Smith gone at end of season

[faba]

Michigan State coach John L. Smith out after season

By Ivan Maisel

ESPN.com

With three games remaining in another disappointing season, Michigan State has decided that John L. Smith will not return to coach the 2007 season.

The university made the announcement at a 1:30 p.m. ET news conference on campus.

Smith will coach the Spartans through the end of this season, including a bowl game. Michigan State, 4-5 this season, must win two of its three remaining games against Purdue, Minnesota and Penn State, to qualify for a postseason invitation.

"The performance on the field has not lived up to what we hoped it would be," athletic director Ron Mason said during a news conference Wednesday. "It comes time to make a change, and that's where we're at."

The university will buy out the remaining two years on his contract. His annual salary is $1.35 million. However, Smith's buyout clause is $1.5 million.

"Coach Smith deserves to coach the rest of this season because he will coach with his heart, just like he always has," Joel Ferguson, Vice Chairperson of Michigan State's Board of Trustees, told ESPN's Joe Schad. "We have respect for him and we hope he takes us to a bowl game. What we need here is more players. What we need is better recruits. We don't make excuses. What we need is more depth and more players."

Smith turned around a moribund program in 2003, his first season, taking the Spartans to an 8-5 record and an Alamo Bowl berth. However, that has been his only winning season. His last three teams have been dogged by inconsistency. The Spartans record under Smith is 22-23, including 0-4 marks against Michigan and Ohio State. The Spartans started the 2006 season 3-0 under Smith, but have gone just 1-5 since. That slump started with a 40-37 loss to Notre Dame on Sep. 23 in which Michigan State squandered a 16-point fourth quarter lead.

That was followed by a 23-20 homecoming loss on Sept. 30 to Illinois, a team that had not won a Big Ten game since 2004. Blowout losses to conference powers Michigan and Ohio State came next before a stunning comeback in a 41-38 win at Northwestern on Oct. 21, a game they trailed 38-3 in the third quarter.

Most recently, the Spartans were drubbed 46-21 at Indiana last Saturday. Michigan State took a 7-0 lead before the Hoosiers scored 46 consecutive points.

Prior to coaching at Michigan State, Smith was at Louisville.

Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich said he spoke with Smith twice this week, he told ESPN.com's Pat Forde. Despite their jarring parting -- literally during the 2002 GMAC Bowl -- the two have remained cordial.

"I want our people to remember what a great job he did here, Jurich said, ironically on the eve of the kind of game Smith wasn't sure was possible at Louisville, as the Cardinals prepare to play West Virginia in a game with major BCS implications.

"I have total gratitude to him," Jurich added. "He did a marvelous job picking this program up from 1-10 the year before, taking us to a bowl and electrifying the fans with his style of play. I'm very loyal to him." The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[madmike1]

Good this guy is a joke.

[quietjets]

Good but it is too late for Stanton to restore himself from an embarrassment.

I could not believe the way he handled the ND vs MSU game..

[justincredible]

It's been painful these past few years as a Sparty fan. Thank God the Smith era, I mean error, is over. I'd love to see Steve Mariucci on the sidelines next year.