Michigan State Coach Watch: Oregon State’s Jonathan Smith among candidates who scored Week Five victories

East Lansing, Mich. – On Monday, Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller announced that a search for the Spartans’ next head football coach has officially started. Haller said he intends for the process to be a quiet one.

Haller is not going to reveal to the public the leading candidates on his list. But there are somes names in the coaching industry that are sure to have been, or will be, within his viewfinder at some point.

On Sept. 18, SpartanMag.com released an unofficial list of candidates that were likely at that time to be on the radar for Michigan State. Some of those coaches have gotten off to a poor start this season and have fallen from SpartanMag’s Coach Watch List, while others seem to be in the process of improving their resumés.

Below is a list of the candidates on SpartanMag’s Watch List and how they fared during Week 4 of the college football season.

COACH WATCH: Can Michigan State make a ‘Top 25 hire’?

COACH WATCH: Duke’s Mike Elko and candidates on the rise

COACH WATCH: The watch begins; how attractive is Michigan State?

*Mike Elko, head coach, Duke.
Notre Dame 21, Duke 14

THE SKINNY: Elko and the No. 17-ranked Blue Devils were a fourth-and-16 stop away from defeating No. 11 Notre Dame. Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman scampered for the first-down which led to an eventual Irish touchdown and two-point conversion. Regardless of the loss, Elko’s candidacy for head coach openings this offseason continues to rise. Duke’s defense is stout despite a lesser-talent pool compared to many of its Power Five opponents. The Blue Devils are well-coached, disciplined, tough in the trenches and multiple with their coverages. Duke is ranked No. 4 in the nation in scoring defense, No. 16 in the nation in yards allowed per play and contained the nation’s leading rusher, Notre Dame’s Audric Estime, to 81 yards on 18 carries (4.5 per).

*Charles Huff, head coach, Marshall.
Marshall 41, Old Dominion 35

THE SKINNY: Marshall – led by third-year head coach Charles Huff – struggled early against Sun Belt Conference foe, Old Dominion. The Thundering Herd trailed 21-17 at halftime but outscored ODU 21-7 in the third quarter to take control of the game. Marshall has moved to 4-0 on the season and will travel to Raleigh, N.C., it they will face Dave Doeren and North Carolina State on Saturday.

*Lance Leipold, head coach, Kansas.
Texas 40, Kansas 14

THE SKINNY: No. 24 Kansas was able to keep things close early, trailing 13-7 at halftime, but the Jayhawks (4-1) were eventually out-classed by No. 3 Texas. Kansas was playing without dynamic quarterback Jalon Daniels, who missed the game with a back injury. Leipold’s candidacy won’t take a massive blow despite the blowout loss, as Texas looks like a College Football Playoff contender.

*Johnathan Smith, head coach, Oregon State.
Oregon State 21, Utah 7

THE SKINNY: Smith continued to raise his profile as a rising national coaching talent in leading No. 19 Oregon State to a 21-7 victory over No. 10 Utah. Oregon State (4-1) bounced back from last week’s loss at Washington State. Utah fell to 4-1. Oregon State moved up four spots to No. 15 in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll following the win. Oregon State has manageable games in four of its next five games, with a visit from UCLA on Oct. 14 looming as a noteworthy challenge. Oregon State will finish the year against back-to-back Top 10 opponents in Washington and Oregon.

*Kalen Deboer, head coach, Washington.
Washington 31, Arizona 24

THE SKINNY: No. 7-ranked Washington – led by Heisman candidate Michael Penix – had its smallest margin of victory this season on Saturday, against Arizona (3-2). The Huskies jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, and had leads of 21-10 at halftime and 28-10 in the third quarter. But Arizona outscored Washington 14-3 down the stretch to make the final score respectable. Penix was held to no touchdown passes for the first time this season.

*PJ Fleck, head coach, Minnesota.
Minnesota 35, Louisiana 24

THE SKINNY: Minnesota improved to 3-2 but struggled with Sun Belt Conference foe, Louisiana. The Ragin’ Cajuns(3-2) led 17-14 at halftime, but the Gophers, led by 12-of-14 passsing for 146 yards by QB Athan Kaliakmanis, outscored Louisiana 21-7 in the second half. The Ragin’ Cajuns were averaging nearly 39-points per game heading into Saturday, but Minnesota became the first team to hold Louisiana below 31 points this season. Fleck’s seasonal profile took a hit when the Gophers blew a 21-0 lead in losing to Northwestern last week. Minnesota will play host to Michigan this weekend.

*Jason Candle, head coach, Toledo.
Toledo 35, Northern Illinois 33

THE SKINNY: Candle and the Toledo Rockets won their fourth straight game, improving to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Mid-American Conference with a 35-33 victory over Northern Illinois. QB Dequan Finn completed 16 of 20 passes for 281 yards and former Detroit Cass Tech and University of Maryland running back Peny Boone rushed for 113 yards on 16 carries for the Rockets. Former Michigan State quarterback Rocky Lombardi completed 21 of 31 passes for 258 yards with 2 TDs and no interceptions for Northern Illinois. Northern Illinois upset Boston College in the opener but has lost four straight. Toledo will play at UMass on Saturday, with a double-digit win season looking like a distinct possibility. Candle, 43, has had two 9-win seasons at Toledo and had an 11-3 season for the Rockets in 2017.

*Matt House, defensive coordinator and linebackers, LSU.
Ole Miss 55, LSU 49

THE SKINNY: The Michigan State graduate’s defense has looked less-than-stellar through five games as the Tigers dropped to 3-2 in Brian Kelly’s second season. The LSU defense has allowed an average of 429.4 yards per game this year. Needless to say, House’s stock is bottoming out rapidly as his defense continues to struggled down in Baton Rouge.

BYE WEEK:

*Jamey Chadwell, head coach, Liberty.
*Brian Hartline, co-offensive coordinator and wide recievers, Ohio State.
*Dave Clawson, head coach, Wake Forest.
*Jake Dickert, head coach, Washington State.

(SpartanMag publisher Jim Comparoni contributed to this report).

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