Is 2023 a new program-low for Michigan State football?
Turmoil, chaos, debacle, avalanche, dumpster fire.
There are many adjectives to describe the current state of Michigan State’s football program. The Spartan’s woeful season has only continued to get worse, and the end of the season feels lightyears away. Some fans have already resorted to the upcoming basketball season for a reprieve, but others are riding the ship through the thick of it.
With MSU turning to an interim coach, losing 49-0 to its biggest rival and watching players start to enter the transfer portal, is this an all-time low for Spartans football?
Michigan State is one of the better jobs in the country. It isn’t a ‘blue blood’ school, but isn’t a ‘stepping stone’ job either. The athletic department, brand, fan support and resources make this arguably the best football job in the Big Ten after Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. There is no reason the Spartans should be worrying about bowl eligibility. They should be competing with the likes of the top programs in the conference.
We have seen Michigan State experience some bad seasons. Former head coaches John L. Smith and Bobby Williams took the Spartans to just two bowl games in seven years. In 2016, a Mark Dantonio-led team went 3-9. And, in the shortened 2020 season, the Spartans went just 2-5. Previous to the COVID year in 2020, the last time the Spartans only won two games in a season was in 1982.
Losses this season to Rutgers, Maryland and a struggling Iowa team is not a good look for the program. Struggling on all three facets of the game, Michigan State looks undisciplined and not well-coached. Off the field, the university’s official NIL affiliate ‘SD4L’ has stopped NIL deals with the majority of the football team’s players.
This era of college football is more fast-paced than ever. A bad head coach hire sets a program back years and potentially a decade. With Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State all currently boasting Top 10 teams, Michigan State will be fighting an uphill battle in the foreseeable future. With the Big Ten introducing Washington, Oregon, USC and UCLA into the conference next season, the Spartans' schedule won’t get any easier.
MSU ranks 118th (out of 130) in the country in scoring offense this season, with a change at quarterback after five games. Losses to Rutgers and Iowa came at the hands of their special teams units, specifically the punt unit. The defense has improved from previous years, but has still given up 30-plus points in three games this season.
In the transfer portal era, more than half of the players on MSU’s roster may not even be at Michigan State in January. The roster turnover has been detrimental for programs rebuilding when new coaches are hired, and Michigan State could see that with a new coaching hire. Retaining assistant coaches to keep recruits and players on the roster is a large factor that plays into roster turnover, yet, most (understandably) don’t want Michigan State’s current assistants retained.
Athletic director Alan Haller has a tall task as he looks to hire a new head coach that can turn things around quickly. Michigan State’s next head football coach could determine the program's direction for the next decade. Finding a coach who is determined to turn the program around on and off the field, regaining fan support and funding will be the difference between getting back to competing in the Big Ten or continuing to battle for bowl eligibility. For the time being, it seems as if the football program is at an all-time low.
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