Mel Tucker On Importance Of Learning About Players During Spring

Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker on importance of learning about players during spring football

Now that his coaching staff is in place, Mel Tucker turns his attention to other aspects of the Spartan football program, which includes getting a better feel for the roster he’s inheriting and how to best move forward with his team.

When Tucker met with the media at the end of February, he spoke of the importance of spring football so he can see the players out on the field and have a better idea of what he and his staff will be working with come the summer and fall.

“It’s important for us to go through the spring and know who can play football,” he said. “Players play the fastest when they know what to do, so I want to know what a player can do when he is playing fast and when he’s not thinking too much initially. We will challenge our players from a scheme standpoint, you have to know from a volume standpoint, what guys can handle. There’s a process and when we go into our summer program, I want to know who can do what and who our best players at each position are. Who are the guys that we feel like we can really develop? Who are guys that maybe need a position change, if any? Things like that. So in order to do that, we have to be very strategic in how much we install in the spring just to make sure we can get a good picture of all of those things going into the summer.”

Michigan State returns five starters on offense, including running back Elijah Collins, and five on defense, led by linebacker Antjuan Simmons, from a team that finished 7-6 in each of the past two seasons.

Tucker told reporters that his goal is to learn as much as he can about the players on the current team, but said that his message to his team is that everyone will start fresh with the new coaching staff.

“I want as much information as I can get on players - I think just gathering information is what it's all about, so you can make informed decisions,” he said. “I told all the players on my first day on the job here is that everyone's got a clean slate with me. Our mentality is going to be our earn it, prove it mentality. That's going to be our approach as coaches and players. I don't believe in self-imposed limitations, the sky's the limit for what we can do with our guys and I want our players to feel the same way. We have an opportunity now to reset the standard of performance and work to achieve it at a high level.”

Along with Elijah Collins, Michigan State returns wide receiver Jalen Nailor along with offensive linemen Jordan Reid, Luke Campbell and A.J. Arcuri as other returning starters. The Spartans also have a handful of offensive linemen and receivers who have starting experience as well.

Defensively, Michigan State returns defensive end Jacub Panasiuk, linebacker Noah Harvey, cornerback Shakur Brown and safety Xavier Henderson in addition to Simmons.

When it comes to coming into a new situation with a new team and players that he’s unfamiliar with, Tucker said that he has experience from some of his other coaching stops, including as an assistant under Nick Saban at LSU in 2000, and feels he can take that experience and use them to help figure out the best scheme and systems for this year’s team.

“I'm kind of going through my mind thinking about walking into Baton Rouge with Coach Saban back in 2000 and some of the things that we did and it was very similar,” he said. “Just really trying to figure out what the players can do and then trying to fit the scheme to that because you know we were multiple then, and I'm multiple now. I think you have to be that way, whether I was at Alabama, Georgia or Colorado, we were three down, we were four down. We were in and out of those deals based upon the personnel we had and what offenses we were facing. so we'll have a very good ability to do that here, and I'm not married to any type of scheme in particular. For me, I know that if you get really good players at buying in, they run to the ball, they play hard and have technique and fundamentals, they play together and they're unselfish. You can play good ball and you can play good defense. I've coordinated a 4-3 in the NFL, I've coordinated 3-4 in the NFL, and they've both worked. So, we'll do what the players can do best.”

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.

Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

Want the latest breaking MSU news delivered straight to your email for FREE? Sign up for the DAILY Spartan Nation newsletter when you CLICK THE MAGAZINE ICON at the top left of the page or the FOLLOW button back on the main page. Don’t miss any of the latest up to the second updates on Michigan State Sports when you follow on Twitter @HondoCarpenter & @JDeuceDullack