247Sports’ Josh Pate: Mel Tucker can win a national title at Michigan State
After an 11-2 record and a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl victory in his first full season in East Lansing, how far can Mel Tucker take Michigan State?
That’s been a prevailing question throughout this offseason, as the Spartans’ roster continues to accumulate more talent via high school recruiting and the transfer portal.
In the mind of 247Sports’ Josh Pate, who hosts The Late Kick live/podcast, there is no limit to what Tucker can do in East Lansing.
“I think Michigan State can win a national championship in the next decade,” Pate said. “I think that, because I think there are things that are going to happen there under Mel Tucker that are irregular in historic nature. History has presented a certain set of limitations, if you will, that college football has placed on Michigan State as a program.”
Pate went on to talk about the Spartans’ appearance in the College Football Playoff in 2015, when Michigan State was shut out by Alabama, 38-0. Though the perceived ceiling of Michigan State around college football is the 2015 season, Pate disagrees with that perception.
“That’s the way it has been, but just because it has been, doesn’t mean it always has to be,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if people think Michigan State is or isn’t capable of fill-in-the-blank. If you know you’re capable of it, that’s all that matters.”
The conversation then turned toward recruiting.
“College football has convinced us that Michigan State can’t get the caliber of athlete in East Lansing that it takes to compete with – year in and year out – the Alabama’s and Ohio State’s and Clemson’s of the world,” Pate said.
He said that Tucker is already breaking through that perceived barrier with what he did in the recruiting class of 2022 – ranked No. 23 in the country – and what the Spartans’ staff are currently doing in the 2023 class – currently ranked No. 8 in the country.
“Mel Tucker, I’ll tell you this, he is recruiting with an energy at Michigan State I’ve never seen anyone recruit with there,” Pate said.
“They’re pounding it up there. They’re pounding the pavement, and they’re trying to recruit nationally because they know they have to. But, that’s what it was so important for them to do what they did this past year.”
The 11-2 record and Peach Bowl victory were fantastic for the Spartans, but how 2021 concluded wasn’t the most important part of the season, according to Pate.
“I was there, I was on the field, when they beat Michigan,” he said. “That was about so much more than beating Michigan. That was about announcing to the world – with all the pre-game shows in town, and the spotlight on East Lansing – that this is a place that you can come, not just as a backup option, but as a premier option. You’ve got offers from Ohio State? Come here anyway. You’ve got offers from Clemson and Alabama? Think about coming here anyway. Because we’ve got a pretty special thing going on up here, and it’s only just begun.”
Given the way Tucker is recruiting to Michigan State, Pate noted that the Spartans’ roster should be in good shape for the foreseeable future. He said what’s next is for Michigan State to land a big-time, five-star quarterback, which could come from the transfer portal given Tucker’s track record with portal acquisitions.
“All it takes is one time for that to happen,” Pate said. “For an elite quarterback to choose to go to East Lansing and play for Mel Tucker – very infectious personality, everyone loves Mel Tucker. Players will all go over a cliff for him. If he attracts that kind of guy, to play for an already pretty stocked cupboard otherwise, you watch and see. All it takes is one year.”
Pate noted that before DeShaun Watson, Clemson was viewed in a similar light as Michigan State – a program capable of good or great seasons, but not a national title contender. He said that Watson changed the perception by winning a national title, and Clemson then landed Trevor Lawrence as a result.
“That was all it took. Because, then Clemson’s a destination,” Pate said. “And just because the quarterbacks go there, then everyone else wants to go there too. My point is, that’s not happening this very moment at Michigan State, [but] I think you that you would be shocked at how much the fortune of that program could very much change with just one big quarterback acquisition.
“If that happens over the next decade, and the situation is right elsewhere…if Michigan State were to do that, and you had a year where it was kind of a toss-up, yeah, they could win a title. They absolutely could.”
Pate's full discussion about Michigan State chances at winning a national championship can be viewed below:
