The offseason (unfortunately) started early for Michigan State for a fourth straight year as the Spartans were eliminated from bowl contention early in November.
Jonathan Smith and the Spartans started the season 3-0, but lost eight straight games before beating Maryland in the season finale. That was the last game that Smith would coach as a Spartan, and he at least rode off with a huge buyout and a win.
Smith did a decent enough job of keeping the team together even when it looked fairly obvious that he was going to be fired after the season.