Mel Tucker Reveals Michigan State's Spring Game Format For April 15
Michigan State is headed into its final week of spring football practice, which will culminate in what the program is calling the "Spartan Football Kickoff" on Saturday, April 15.
The event will begin at 2 p.m. at Spartan Stadium.
Head coach Mel Tucker confirmed on Monday that this kickoff event will be in lieu of the traditional "Green and White" spring game that MSU traditionally hosted prior to Tucker's tenure.
“We’re going to have more of a practice-type format with some scrimmaging, as opposed to a game," Tucker said. "That’s what’s worked for us in the past. With our numbers, it’s actually going to be more competitive for us, we can get a lot more out of it, as opposed to trying to split the team up and create some type of game.”
Michigan State has not hosted a traditional inter-squad scrimmage since Tucker was hired in 2020. Spring practice was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic during his first year, and the coaching staff has not felt like the team's spring roster depth has been sufficient enough to support a split-squad scrimmage in any of the following three years.
“When you split a squad up, if it’s not going to be competitive then that’s not very fun for coaches to evaluate guys," Tucker said. "It might be a little more fun for the fans to see guys just going up and down the field, but for us we need to see guys compete and strain really hard to win their one-on-ones on each play.”
Last year, Michigan State had only five scholarship offensive lineman who were able to compete in spring practice. The Spartans asked two walk-on defensive linemen to convert to the offensive side of the ball in order to work their way through those practices.
This year, MSU started spring with 19 healthy and available O-linemen who were able to practice. Tucker said the depth concern this spring resides on the opposite side of the ball.
“If we had more defensive lineman healthy and ready to go, we might be able to divide the squad up and have a competitive kind of game, but that’s not the case," he said.
While the lack of a traditional spring game may be disappointing to MSU fans, Tucker wants to utilize each of the Spartans' 15 allotted spring practices to their fullest extent.
“That practice format with scrimmaging is good when you’re really trying to evaluate, and we only get 15 of them, so we don’t plan on wasting a day," Tucker said. "We’re going to get something done on Saturday.”
Tucker encouraged fans to come to Spartan Stadium on Saturday to get their first look at the 2023 team.
“We’re supposed to have a great day on Saturday. It’s supposed to be about 70 degrees and sunny, so we encourage everyone to come on out and check out our deal," he said.
“We’re excited to get back in the Woodshed…It will be up-tempo, it will be organized. You’ll see guys get a chance to play fast. You’ll see ‘good on good’ – good players going against good players like 1’s on 1’s, 2’s on 2’s…which is really how we practice every day. So, you’ll get a chance to see guys get a chance to grind and compete. You’ll see some of the new guys that you haven’t had a chance to see go full speed, so I think that will be good.”
While Tucker pointed to the defensive line as a position group that did not have enough depth currently to support a split-squad spring game, that's not necessarily cause for concern for the 2023 season.
On paper, Michigan State's defensive line may be the strength of the team. The Spartans return Simeon Barrow, Derrick Harmon and Maverick Hansen at defensive tackle, each of whom received substantial playing time a year ago. Additionally, redshirt freshman Alex VanSumeren was a high-profile recruit in the 2022 class who should see his role increase this season.
Returnees at defensive end include Khris Bogle, Zion Young and Avery Dunn among others.
Michigan State also added transfers Jarrett Jackson (Florida State), Dre Butler (Liberty) and Tunmise Adeleye (Texas A&M), as well as mid-year freshman enrollees Bai Jobe, Andrew Depaepe and Ken Talley.
It’s been good," Tucker said of Michigan State's first four weeks of spring practice. "We feel like the team is improving with the guys that we have out there competing and able to practice.”
Michigan State's "Spartan Football Kickoff" is free and open to the public, and will begin at 2 p.m. at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, April 15.
