LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – As the Big Ten Conference adds four teams to the new athletic year, new leadership is at the helm of the Michigan State Spartans and Michigan Wolverines. Jonathan Smith was hired late in November for MSU and Sherrone Moore was promoted to lead the Wolverines on January 26 when Jim Harbaugh left for the NFL. Both programs opened up fall practices on Wednesday, July 31.

MSU’s Smith says, “It’s great to get started – day one, as expected, but good energy, the guys were flying around pretty good. Obviously we’re just in helmets and spiders (light shoulder pads), but I was really pleased with what it looked like.”

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It will be a new look team at MSU as Smith comes to East Lansing from Oregon State. The head coach for six years, he led the Beavers to three winning seasons as 2022 was the best at 10-3. They won the Las Vegas Bowl and finished 17th in the Coaches and AP Final Poll.

Being able to run the 2024 spring practices, Smith’s coaching concept was put in place. He says, “I thought we were crisp, today. You could tell we went through spring ball and they had a good summer. A lot of guys got bigger, faster, and stronger. They are more comfortable in the scheme, and I thought that showed up in day one.”

UM’s Moore is a first-time head coach heading into the 2024 season. As the offensive coordinator from the national championship team, he keeps the core of the Wolverines’ program together. His path will be a challenging one replacing a legend and also replenishing an offense that had two NFL first round draft picks.

One of the biggest stories will be who will replace J.J. McCarthy at quarterback and how will Moore shape the offense with the new players.

MSU starts their season on August 30 vs. Florida Atlantic at home while Michigan will host Fresno State on August 31 in Ann Arbor.