Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Michigan State Football: 3 reasons Mel Tucker is good fit for Spartans

By Dante Pryor

BOULDER, CO - OCTOBER 25: Head coach Mel Tucker of the Colorado Buffaloes leads players onto the field before a game against the USC Trojans at Folsom Field on October 25, 2019 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
BOULDER, CO - OCTOBER 25: Head coach Mel Tucker of the Colorado Buffaloes leads players onto the field before a game against the USC Trojans at Folsom Field on October 25, 2019 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
TEMPE, AZ – SEPTEMBER 08: Running back LJ Scott #3 of the Michigan State Spartans rushes the football past safety Jalen Harvey #43 of the Arizona State Sun Devils during the college football game at Sun Devil Stadium on September 8, 2018, in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils defeated the Spartans 16-13. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ – SEPTEMBER 08: Running back LJ Scott #3 of the Michigan State Spartans rushes the football past safety Jalen Harvey #43 of the Arizona State Sun Devils during the college football game at Sun Devil Stadium on September 8, 2018, in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils defeated the Spartans 16-13. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

2. Recruiting

In the movie Remember the Titans, Herman Boone had coached several programs and won several championships. “That’s double-A ball,” coach Tyrell retorted. “This is Virginia. Here we play, triple-A.”

That’s the narrative about the Pac-12.

Consider the top two recruits on the West Coast are not going to Pac-12 schools. Bryce Young (California), the No. 2 ranked player in the country, and Kelee Ringo (Arizona), the No. 4 ranked player in the country, are headed to Alabama and Georgia, respectively. DJ Uiagalelei, the No. 1 pro-style quarterback in the country, is headed to Clemson.

The narrative that championship-level football is only played west of the Mississippi has hurt recruiting at Colorado and the entire Pac-12.

Colorado is not the easiest place to recruit, either. They have a beautiful campus and updated their facilities in 2015. However, between national recruiting, and universities taking Colorado’s formula for recruiting over the last 30 years have put the Buffaloes behind the eight-ball.

Former Colorado head coach Bill McCartney was one of the first coaches to recruit Polynesian players at skill positions. He also went to Watts and Compton to recruit African American players that might not have had the opportunity to play football otherwise. Simply put, recruiting caught up and passed Colorado by.

Since joining the Pac-12, the Buffaloes have had one winning season and one bowl game. Since 2005, they’ve had only two winning seasons and three bowl games.

Suffice it to say, Michigan State is a better job. Although the Spartans have to contend with Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan, they don’t have the uphill climb Colorado does from a recruiting perspective. The state of Michigan has a much better footprint than Colorado. Michigan has almost twice as many top-500 recruits as Colorado. In addition, the state of Michigan has eight blue-chip players and Colorado has only two.

This hire is a message to the Michigan State faithful that they are going to fight Michigan for the best in-state recruits, and they are going to battle Ohio State and Penn State for the best prospects in the area. Even if they lose most of the battles to Ohio State and Penn State in recruiting, Mel Tucker will get one or two and improve their recruiting profile.

Home/Michigan State Spartans