It's an election year, you might've heard, and new Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith truly begins the job of winning over his base Friday night in Game 1 against Florida Atlantic.
"Every interaction I've had with them has been genuine, it's been transparent, it's been real," said Orchard Lake St. Mary's head coach Jermaine Gonzales, who coaches three players committed to the Spartans' 2025 class. "I just feel like they really want to build those relationships."
Jonathan Smith is once again flexing his recruiting muscles as he has one of the top players in the entire 2026 recruiting class scheduled to visit Michigan State football this weekend.
Visits during the season are the perfect time to bring in your top targets as they’ll get to see firsthand what it would be like to play at Michigan State on gameday. Especially for the first game of the season when Spartan Stadium is going to be as loud as ever to welcome Smith and his team to a new era of Michigan State football.
And this visit arguably is one of the biggest that Smith has scheduled all year.
Michigan State will be hosting 2026 Portage Northern 4 ⭐️ OT Gregory Patrick for their season opener next Fridayhttps://t.co/GU3Xt9VHSt pic.twitter.com/QXZrd0QizF
Gregory Patrick is the big-time visitor who will be attending Michigan State’s first game against Florida Atlantic next Friday. According to the 247Sports composite rankings, Patrick is the No. 137 overall player in the country. He also is the No. 10 offensive tackle in his class and the No. 2 player from the state of Michigan.
Patrick is a recruit in the 2026 class so there isn’t any chance that he’ll commit on this visit, but that doesn’t mean this visit isn’t a big deal. Being that he’s a top recruit in Michigan, he likely could have visited many other schools in the Midwest if not the country next weekend, but he’s choosing to come to Michigan State which speaks to his interest in Smith’s program.
Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Washington are just a handful of other programs that have offered Patrick along with Michigan State. That group clearly shows how difficult this recruitment will be for Smith to win.
But so far Smith and his staff are making all the right moves and giving the Spartans a great chance to win this recruitment in the long run.
It is one of the storylines of Jonathan Smith's first year at Michigan State. Rebuilding the in-state and Midwest pipelines. So far, he has done well with the 2025 class. Now, Smith is looking ahead to 2026 and beyond.
Gregory Patrick is a 2026 offensive lineman, a four-star prospect, and a Spartans legacy. His father, Joseph, played for then-Spartans coach Nick Saban in the 1990s. Patrick checks all of the boxes for Smith and his staff. He fits the prototype for Spartans offensive line coach Jim Michalczik. He's an in-stater. A legacy.
All are factors as to why it is huge that Patrick will be visiting this Friday for the Spartans' home opener against Florida Atlantic. Patrick will be one of many recruits attending the game, which will be imperative for the Spartans' success on the recruiting trail.
A good showing is in order, obviously, but something several recruits have told me is that they want to see how the staff and players interact with one another in the game environment.
Patrick already likes the Spartans and Michalczik. He visited earlier this summer and I spoke with him about his impressions of the new Spartans.
"I watched [the team] do [organized team activities] and kind of hung out and talked to them for a while," Patrick said. "I talked to some of the players, I'd say I've developed a pretty good relationship with a lot of the players, I'd say Cooper Terpstra, I actually played against him, he's a walk-on at Michigan State. I played against him when he was at West Ottawa. So we kind of talked a little bit. [Andrew] Dennis, those kind of guys I know pretty well.
"Each player is like, holding each other accountable, you know, they're each coaching each other up. It's not just Coach M. So that's like, one thing that stood out to me. Another thing that stood out to me was just like, how a family, friendly environment it is that Coach M has developed in the offensive line's culture, especially how tight all those guys are."
Patrick referred to Michalczik as a real "genuine" coach and expressed a good bond with the coach.
"He also talks about life in general, not just about football," Patrick said. "So, I'd say he's just overall a really good guy."
Since arriving in East Lansing, Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith has continued to prioritize in-state talent.
Coach Smith has zeroed in on numerous in-state players in future recruiting classes and plans to center the rebuilding of Michigan State’s football program on talent from Michigan and other states in the Midwest. As Smith and Michigan State remain active on the recruiting trail, they have pursued plenty of players from Michigan.
Smith has started to focus on the 2026 and 2027 recruiting classes, as Michigan State’s 2025 recruiting class is nearly filled. Smith has invited multiple players from future recruiting classes to the Spartans’ season-opening game against Florida Atlantic later this month. He recently invited another talented in-state player, four-star athlete Anthony Cartwright, to the game.
The Franklin, Michigan native will reportedly visit East Lansing next Friday for the first game of Coach Smith’s tenure at Michigan State. Kenny Jordan of SpartanMag reported Cartwright’s plans to visit Michigan State on X, formerly known as Twitter.
According to 247Sports, Cartwright is the 52nd-best overall prospect in the 2027 recruiting class. He is the 10th-best athlete in the 2027 recruiting class and the third-best from Michigan in the 2027 class. Should he commit to Michigan State, Cartwright would undoubtedly rank as one of the best players to sign with the Spartans.
According to 247Sports, Cartwright has received scholarship offers from many notable schools nationwide. He has offers from over 15 schools, including Michigan State. The talented wide receiver also has offers from Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Purdue, Rutgers and Tennessee.
Michigan State is set to kick off its season this Friday against the Florida Atlantic Owls. The game is set to kick off at & PM and can be seen on the Big Ten Network. The Spartans are two-touchdown favorites.
The Friday night kickoff has become a tradition for the Spartans to start their season, to kick off the Labor Day festivities for many. With Michigan High Schools playing their games on Thursday night to start their seasons, it allows for a strong list of in-state prospects to make a game day visit. New head coach Jonathan Smith has emphasized making Michigan their number one focus on recruiting since arriving and this Friday's visitor list is jam-packed with prospects from the mitten.
Smith has taken the lessons he learned while turning around Oregon State’s football program and put them to good use during his first offseason at Michigan State. Smith has shown that he understands the importance of recruiting in the rebuilding process and has already proven he can recruit at a high level on the recruiting trail and the transfer portal. For Michigan State to return to the national stage, it will take Smith’s ability to recruit and develop respectable talent for Michigan State, as the teams with the most and the best talent usually win in college football.
