Mel Tucker Talks New Look Michigan State Spartan Football Offense
One of the bigger remaining questions about Michigan State under its new regime is how the Spartans will look on the offensive side of the ball.
In recent seasons, fans became accustomed to watching an offense that underperformed and finished 95th in total offense a year ago with Brad Salem at offensive coordinator and finished at No. 89 in 2018 with Dave Warner calling plays.
With a completely overhauled offensive coaching staff entering 2020 led by new offensive coordinator Jay Johnson, who had the same role under Mel Tucker at Colorado last year, the Spartan offense will surely look different than it has in previous years, but what exactly will the offense look like is the question.
When Tucker spoke to the media last week, he spoke about his offense, though not very specifically, but did discuss the importance of some of focusing on the basics and fundamentals of offense.
“On offense, we want a team that's going to be smart, we're not going to beat ourselves,” he said. “Execution at a high level rooted in technique and fundamentals at every position. An offense that plays fast, and an offense that plays physical. Now, obviously we need to be able to run the ball on our terms - that doesn't mean three runs and a cloud of dust, that means when we want to run it, we can. When we need to run it, we can. That's critically important. We need to make sure that we can protect the quarterback. Whatever pass-game concepts that we have - being able to protect the quarterback is crucial. We need to be able to take care of the football. The biggest determination of winning and losing in college and pro is the turnover margin, so we need to be able to protect the football.”
Prior to his one year at Colorado, Johnson spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons as an offensive analyst at Georgia and was a member of the staff the same years Tucker was the defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs. Georgia reached the National Championship game in 2017, falling to Alabama in overtime.
Although much of what Johnson did at Georgia was behind the scenes, he left the program after two seasons with plenty of praise from those around him, including Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm who called Johnson the “unsung hero of Georgia football” according to Marc Weiszer of OnlineAthens.com in December of 2018.
When it came to identifying and hiring Johnson his offensive coordinator, Tucker cited Johnson’s ability to change his offense and game plan to best accommodate his players and added that as his staff gets to know the players already in place, then he’ll have a better idea of how his offense will take shape.
“One of the things I like about Jay is that Jay is very adaptable,” he said. “He's multiple, and he's got great experience and wisdom, he's kind of been there, done that. So, we see football the same way, and he understands that you have to do what your players can do. You never want to try to fit a square peg into a round hole, so to speak. So, part of what we're doing now is getting to know our players. We'll see them work out, then, we'll go through spring ball. We'll be able to evaluate in the spring. It's going to be very important for us to install our base schemes on offense, defense, especially on things that we know we're going to do. At the same time, evaluate the guys that we have, so we can go into the summer programs and say, 'okay, this is what we think we can do with this group of guys right now.' So, Jay, he's been through that and what he did at Colorado was somewhat a reflection of that.”
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The Spartans open the season September 5, 2020, at home against the Northwestern Wildcats. Not only is it the season opener, but also the Big Ten opener.
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