Answering your Michigan State Football Questions…
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Answering your Michigan State Football Questions…
Hey Hondo, hope all is well. Got a KN question:
I love Keith’s size and athleticism as a receiver but have not heard much about him (good or bad) this spring. How is he doing? How significantly does he factor into the offensive puzzle? Thanks! Go Green! Ryan in Chicago
Great question Ryan. I think Nichol gets overlooked by our fan base. Keith is a steady Eddie; meaning he is reliable, works hard and shuts up. He is our best down field blocker by far from the WR group. He is athletic and strong. I can assure you that even with an overload of WR talent on this team you will see Nichol as a key cog in 2011.
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Hi Hondo,
Another question for you from spring ball. What are your impressions of Cousins in terms of improved delivery? There has been so much press about him throwing off his back foot, and now we've been reading about multiple interceptions in scrimmages. Not having seen those, and knowing there could have been other reasons, it does not sound too good.
Tim in California
Great question Tim. No doubt that Kirk had issues throwing off of his back foot and away in his career. He would acknowledge that. Cousins is a gamer. He is tough and competitive. That hurts him sometimes because he is always trying to make the play. As a fifth year senior there is no excuses this year and he has to eliminate many of those mistakes. He is ready for the task. There have been a lot of great players at MSU over the decades and Kirk’s work ethic is as good as any. I have no concerns at all with him this season. He has spent a significant amount of time on his eyes and technique and will head out to do more in California this summer with the Elite 11 team.
Hondo,
I have a question on Cousins. Why did it not surprise that he did not have any scholarship offers until MSU decided he was our man? Can we get a QB that is nationally recruited please? Greg in Lansing
WOW Greg you are brutal. He is only going to be a first round NFL selection next year. What about Nick Foles who will also be an NFL 2012 first rounder from Arizona who was here and transferred? Andrew Maxwell was another who fits that bill. You can question some things that the staff does, but recruiting top notch QBs isn’t one of them. If the wife yelled at you this morning why take it out on Cousins? I would hope that readers of Spartan Nation would be a little more informed than that.
Hondo. Is Travis Jackson really emerging as the #1 center? Chuck from Dewitt
Hi Chuck. Travis had a great spring. He will have an uphill battle beating Treadwell. You don’t move a starting DT over to center for him not to get the job. When Youngstown State shows up for game one, barring injury Treadwell will be your guy.
Hondo – I haven’t heard anything about Donald Spenser. At the end of the last season he was mentioned as a kid who will contribute. Bill in Grand Rapids
Bill as you know I have been high on Spencer since his arrival in East Lansing. As a WR/DB prospect he came in with great hands and ability to use his body. They put him right over on WR. He is a great kid with a lot of talent. Unfortunately, you see that there is a lot of depth and talent there and right now it is a dogfight to get noticed. The thing I want to see with Spencer is how strong is his want to. What I mean by that is simple. How hard will he work to separate from the pack? He is a young man I will have my eye on this summer.
With all of the good things Keith Nichol has done at MSU, wouldn’t it be great for he and his brother to get on the field together for one snap in 2011 season? Tom Gauerke
Tom that would be awesome. If they could make that happen it would mean the team was doing well and it would be another heart warming move by this staff. I would love to see it. The entire Nichol family is made up of class A people. When the season is over I am going to do a recap of his career and I will share with you some great stories about what people thought of him as a game changer when he transferred. Some really good stuff.
Hey Hondo. Does it concern you that Dan France (converted back-up DT from last year) appears to have won the job at Left Tackle through Spring ball? I don’t mean to be negative here, as I’m as big a Spartans fan as any, but this is concerning. On a positive, Skyler Schofner is going to be a STUD!!! Any thoughts??? Thanks. Brett
Good morning Brett. Not concerned at all. France is a big athletic young man and with a cornucopia of talent on the DL and a big need to upgrade the athleticism on the OL it was a good fit. He wasn’t given anything this spring. He won the LT spot for now. I still think Fou Fonoti the JC All American transfer is in play and will win the LT spot this summer, but that is not because I don’t like France as a person or player. Dan can do this job and do it at a high level. I had another person ask me if the Spartans weren’t good because he won it. I laughed and said no that we are good because he won it. What I meant is that he was that good with limited training at the position he won it. He is a stud athletically.
Hondo…Do you have anything that you can share on the recruiting front?  It feels like an awfully slow start to recruiting! Troy in Grand Ledge, Michigan
Unfortunately Troy I sure have heard this a lot from Spartan fans.  They seem to look at the number of recruits who have pledged to UM and then think that MSU has taken a back seat. First, let me say that Brady Hoke has done well and has got some players that MSU wanted. Unfortunately, because some don’t understand that UM can offer one major thing that MSU can’t and that is playing time. Without the best freshman class of his tenure even on campus this spring, Dantonio’s team was at least two deep at every position and some as many as eight or nine. With all of the talent and with a litany of good players who won’t see the field, players are looking closely at playing time. Another thing to remember is that UM is a great program. Sure as the biggest rival of the Spartan Nation we may not think as highly of the place (from a rivalry perspective) but you sure as shooting couldn’t expect them to sit dormant. MSU will be fine and are doing well. Part of this is the ever-irritating inferiority complex of some Spartan fans. Dantonio has earned the right to have the faith of the Spartan Nation and he has mine. Relax buddy, Dantonio has this thing solid and in a great spot to continue it for a long time.
Has a decision been made re which home football jersey will prevail? The solid Spartan green or the green with white duct tape on the sleeves? As you can tell, I think the solid green is by far the best. The white sleeves look cheesey and like something out of the W.A.C. The solid, unspoiled green looks like a true, tough Spartan. "Spartan" itself stands for simple, strong, uncluttered. The fact that they were wearing the weak-appearing duct tape specials when they were waxed by Alabama has no bearing on my thought process. I would be the last one to suggest that the Alabama boys, when lining up across from those silly-looking jerseys, were thinking anything but kind thoughts! If you agree, I ask that you use your considerable influence to have the duct tape specials consigned to the ashbin of history.    Glenn (Whitehall,MI)
Well Glenn, I think your credit of “Considerable influence†is overrated, but I will give this a shot. I don’t think the jersey had anything to do with the drubbing by Alabama. I am not a fan of the duct tape on the jersey also. It looks terrible on TV and I can’t tell you how many comments I get on that. What I can say is that I doubt Dantonio has spent five seconds even thinking about it. In fact, he has commented to me before about why people care so much about what they wear. He is a singularly focused man and that is why he is great on and off the field. What I will tell you is that if they can win an outright title I could care less what they wear (and I hate the duct tape jersey also) and I bet you would agree. It is my opinion that in their need to prove cutting edge that Nike often goes too far. I like many of the things that have changed with the new Nike look, just not the duct tape.
There you go everyone. Another week of your MSU Football Q and A in the books. Make sure to send in your questions for next week. Simply email them to SpartanNationMail@yahoo.com and put weekly Q and A in the subject line.
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