1. MSU football fans may not be as excited about recruiting as they were two years ago.
During his time as a Michigan State football player, two years felt like an eternity.
Two years ago this week, I began my column with this assessment of MSU’s program and coaching staff:
“It's too early to call Mel Tucker a $95 million bargain, but this is the kind of recruiting that might get him there one day.”
And then some graphs follow…
“Tucker and his staff have generated recruiting momentum in a short period of time that this program has never seen before. That's no exaggeration.”
Maybe that's not an exaggeration. But it didn't last. He wasn't worth it.
The Tucker era came to an end last September, but its heyday lasted from Miami in September 2021 until this week in 2022. And while nine four-star high school prospects ultimately signed with MSU in December of next year, with five of them remaining with the program (offensive linemen Cole Dellinger and Stanton Ramil, linebacker Jordan Hall, tight end Brennan Paracek and defensive lineman Jalen Thompson), it's hard to imagine MSU fans ever getting excited about football recruiting again like they did two Junes ago, when one high-profile prospect after another posed at Spartan Stadium in luxury cars and flashy gear.
Over the next few months and a year, the excitement faded, the college sports landscape changed, and June became a terrible month for MSU football fans, and for many college football fans. For Tucker, the sport changed, too. His flashy recruiting style might have worked when the Lamborghini was just a show and didn't need to be an actual gift upon admission. Today, cold, solid, collective cash from NILs is more important than swagger, but when it first became college football's currency, MSU just wasn't ready for it.
I still don't see how things might have gone differently at Michigan State if the Tucker era had begun in, say, 2017, and if he'd made at least one decision differently.
But if you're going to spend money on coaches and staff today, it should be a coaching staff that maximizes the talent of its players and creates a culture that will last in a more transactional environment. In recruiting, controlling the roster — and having the money to pay for it — is just as important as attracting prospects to campus. That's the challenge for Jonathan Smith and company going forward.
Seven three-star freshmen have committed for the class of 2025, including two added last week. Some of them could be key players in the coming years. But with the fluidity of the roster, the temptation of the transfer portal, the fickleness of committed freshmen and the scars of disappointment from two Junes ago, I don't think there's much in recent recruiting activity to excite the MSU fan base. At least not in June.
2. History suggests MSU had a satisfactory first year under coach Jonathan Smith.
Coming off a dismal 4-8 season in Smith's first year as coach, if you're looking for an optimistic outlook for football this season, you only need to look at most of Michigan State football's recent history.
In 2006, when Mark D'Antonio replaced John L. Smith after a 4-8 season, D'Antonio's first team won seven games and reached a bowl game. In 2002, when John L. Smith replaced Bobby Williams' staff after a 4-8 season, his first team won eight games. In 1994, when the program was in decline and Nick Saban replaced George Perles after a 5-6 season, Saban's first team went 6-4 with one tie in the regular season and provided the thrills and moments of hope most fans would have hoped for this fall.
No one in their right mind expects this MSU football team to compete for championships — people expect merit, competitiveness and a little flash of genius that will grab the world's attention.
It's rare for a place like MSU to have the previous staff plunge into the depths of a complete rebuild, but the energy and focus that the new staff brings is often enough to lift the roster to a level that's mostly satisfactory for a first year.
3. The hiring of Sadie Washington would give Izzo a fresh perspective and an experienced recruiter.
It would have been a shame if Sadie Washington's eight seasons at Michigan had prevented her from being hired on Tom Izzo's Michigan State staff. It would have been a shame for Washington, who has deep roots in Lansing and the state and whose family lives comfortably here. And it would have been a shame for Izzo and Michigan State, who couldn't have found a better hire than someone with Washington's experience and pedigree.
First, if you're going to stick with the rivalry, understand that Washington is the son of Michigan State's all-time leading player, the late Stan Washington. He's a Lansing Sexton alumnus who went on to become Western Michigan's all-time leading scorer and joined John Beilein's staff at Michigan after a decade of coaching experience under Greg Kampe in Oakland. His roots are too diverse to be called Michigander.
His experience working under three different coaches — Kampe, Beilein and Juwan Howard — should give Washington a seasoned perspective that a younger player might not have, and his experience working under Izzo as a coach and recruiting opponent should provide valuable insight. He played a key role in building Oakland's team and then at Michigan, where he landed players like Isaiah Livers, Hunter Dickinson and Kobe Bufkin.
My understanding is that Washington, along with Austin Thornton, who has been promoted to assistant coach, will be working with Michigan State's big men, a group of players who need some added muscle in their development.
The timing of Howard leaving Michigan and Washington becoming available was ideal for Michigan State.
Graham Couch can be reached at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Graham_Couch.
