One Illuminating Difference Between IU's Cignetti and MSU's Smith
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On Monday, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti walked up to the lectern for his weekly press conference, just like many different head coaches do on Mondays. MSU's Jonathan Smith had his on the same day, too.
The Hoosiers are just coming off what is perhaps the greatest win in their program's history, a road victory over defending Big Ten champion and then-No. 3 Oregon. Cignetti did not bask in his own glory and unanimous approval he has with IU fans.
Quick and to the Point
Nope, he said two very short sentences before getting to Michigan State, "Alright, good win Saturday. It was a hard-fought, physical game."
That's it. Ten words. Then, it was about the next order of business.
"Rip off the rearview mirror, so to speak. Total focus on Michigan State."
Smith specifically referenced Indiana for the first time about a minute and 45 minutes into his opening statement on Monday. In fairness, he usually has more lengthy opening statements that recap his thoughts on the prior game.
But this time, most of Smith's statement was about what happened in the building on Sunday, which he described as a "really healthy day" of players and coaches taking responsibility for what happened against UCLA on Saturday.
Cignetti treated his big win over the Ducks like it was old news. That's probably because to him, it is. He's going to make sure his players think the same thing, as well.
"We have a team meeting (Monday) at 5 (p.m.)," Cignetti said. "I'll talk to the team... and put the message out there (about handling success)."
On the Matchup
Let's face it, for Michigan State to have any real shot against the Hoosiers in Bloomington, it might have to rely on Indiana mentally easing off the gas pedal immediately after clearing the biggest hurdle remaining on its regular season schedule. Cignetti locking in on MSU in his opening statement much quicker than vice versa is not exactly a great sign of that.
Perhaps it's a little harsh on Smith to go on about not bringing up Indiana enough. Most coaches would feel a need to explain themselves after that type of loss. But Cignetti and Smith have both been at their respective programs for virtually the same amount of time (Smith was formally announced five days earlier).
One guy has built an elite Big Ten program in record time. The other is currently treading water, at best.
Just as the new heights Indiana has reached under Cignetti are because of him, the complete lack of on-field improvement for Michigan State with Smith can be because of him, too.
Cignetti will always be the exception to the rule; if anyone outside of Bloomington says they saw what was coming when IU hired him, they're almost certainly lying. So, to anyone who wants MSU to move on from Smith and thinks it can just "find the next Curt Cignetti," know the odds of that are near zero.
Smith was not brought to Michigan State for a miraculous, one-year turnaround. Still, it sure doesn't feel like he'll ever get the Spartans to IU's current level, or even really that close to it, no matter how much time he gets.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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