Jonathan Smith, Spartans Offer Scholarship to Edge Rusher From Connecticut

Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith continues to be active on the recruiting trail, searching high and low for talented players to add to the roster.

Michigan State's offense and defense play each other during the Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA

Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith has left no stone unturned in an attempt to improve the Spartans’ list of 2025 signees. Coach Smith and his coaching staff took the last few weeks to focus on repairing their roster for this upcoming season after losing nearly 20 players to the transfer portal. 

Smith and the Spartans successfully used the transfer portal to replenish the talent they lost to it. Michigan State would finish with one of the country's top 2024 transfer portal classes. While it caught up admirably, the mad dash to secure talent for this upcoming season undoubtedly took some of the focus away from future recruiting classes.

Smith continues to think outside the box. He and his coaching staff recently decided to offer a scholarship to edge rusher Konstantin Paschos. The talented rusher is from Wallingford, Connecticut, is 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds, and moved to Connecticut from Germany when he was younger.

Paschos announced the offer on X, formerly known as Twitter.

After a great call with @AustinDArmond, @DLCoachLegi, and @ColeMoore1991 I am grateful to announce that I have received an offer from Michigan State University @MSU_Football. @GIfootballChris @GridironImports @coach_spinnato @PeterDaletzki @BrianSpapens @DevAthletes pic.twitter.com/cC04nDtFgN

— Konstantin Paschos 🇩🇪 (@paschoko1) June 13, 2024

The Spartans' roster is relatively set for this season. However, they still have one of the worst 2025 recruiting classes in the Big Ten, if not the country. Similarly to how they caught up in the transfer portal, Smith and his coaching staff hope to have a similar turnaround with the 2025 recruiting class. 

Paschos is an intelligent player on the field and an intelligent student in the classroom. According to 247Sports, he has received over 20 scholarship offers, including a few from Ivy League schools.

Like Smith and Michigan State, June has been a busy month for Paschos. He received over 15 offers this past week alone.

Paschos was enthusiastic about the offer from Smith and Michigan State.

"The Michigan State offer means a lot to me,” Paschos said, per Corey Robinson of 247Sports. “When I started playing football, my coach was a big Michigan State fan, and he kind of introduced me to it." 

As Michigan State continues Smith’s tenure in East Lansing, Coach Smith is betting on himself and his coaching staff to help develop talent of all levels once they sign with Michigan State. As Michigan State rounds out a busy month of June, Coach Smith and his coaching staff will likely continue to have long, busy months until the end of the season.

Don’t forget to follow the official Spartan Nation Page on Facebook Spartan Nation WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be a part of our vibrant community group Go Green Go White as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.