Michigan State Head Coach Mark Dantonio Calls Starting QB Tyler O’Connor his “Headline Guy” For Good Reason

Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI When Tyler O’Connor was being recruited out of high school I called him, ���The best high school football quarterback that I

Spartan Stadium

East Lansing, MI

When Tyler O’Connor was being recruited out of high school I called him, ���The best high school football quarterback that I have ever seen.” Even to this day not one has surpassed what I saw out of the Spartans starting QB in high school.

He has remained faithful to the MSU program even when he could have transferred to other power five schools and played immediately. His patience has paid off as now he holds the keys to the Spartan Nation football program.

Mark Dantonio said of O’Connor, “I think first of all, when you're a quarterback, especially with the amount of success that our quarterbacks have had in high school as they've come through, then being in the program, but especially as they come through most of their life, they develop leadership skills. Tyler is a good leader. He always has been. He's taken that aspect of our program and it really doesn't start now, it sort of started in February. He was in the quarterback competition in '13. He had his opportunities. He had his time sort of to step out there a little bit. He's not a guy that all of a sudden is just here. He's played and he's been heavily involved in our offense. I think he's done that. He's done a nice job with that.” That is high praise from a Coach who isn’t one to wax poetic or engage in hyperbole of praise. So how is the Spartans starting QB handling all of the attention that he finds coming his way as the head man? With ease.

“It is very exciting and different. But this is what I have been working for and want. I have no other way to go about it or no other way to expect it. I am in my senior year, and I will go into it with nothing to lose and that it is my job. My knowledge of the game is very high, not just around here but around the country, I feel that way. I feel like I can make plays with my feet, not that other guys can’t, but I am open to hits and to the quarterback run game in order to make plays in general.”

For O’Connor who has never lacked success playing the game he loves, going to Columbus last season and leading the Spartans was a very big deal. Not just for his team, but for his confidence.

“There is no doubt it provides confidence. Before that game I had that confidence though, and we all had all the confidence in the world that we were going to win that game. Knowing we went out and did it against a great defense with a lot of now NFL players, though, provides confidence that we can go out and do it against anybody. We just have to focus and put in that hard work, and we have to believe that we can do it because that is what we did that game.”

O’Connor recognizes that the starting job is his. Now he certainly can lose it with poor play, but he is in the driver’s seat and very comfortable there. “Personally, yes I do (feel that it is my job to lose). I feel that if I continue to do things right, then I will be playing as much as I want to play. That is the plan. We really look at it as competitions against ourselves though and not against each other. We view it as getting better than you were the day before, which is how we say it in our room. That is our main focus. If I have to compete against myself and get better every day, then I think it will be mine.”

O’Connor was in control of the starters’ job in the spring as well, but he understands that there is a BIG difference between spring and fall camp atmosphere. “It is a different atmosphere for sure. It is easy to go out there in the spring. There is not as much pressure and you are not preparing for a team. It is a different mindset. We know that this is real. We have the same guys out there though with the same core guys with the same beliefs.”

MSU has been fortunate at the QB spot. There hasn’t been much transition. Dantonio thinks that patience has paid off for O’Connor. “We've been fortunate with our quarterback situation. We haven't had many guys transfer. We had the one episode where Nick Foles left and Keith Nichol was coming. But other than that, our guys have stayed true to staying the course. Tyler is a great example of that. Look forward for that paying off for him.”

For Dantonio, seeing O’Connor lead his Spartan program is easy. He thinks the young man has been patient and faithful and that epitomizes Spartan Football. “He did epitomize a little bit about what we're about. He's a hard-working guy. He's done a nice job with the press. Our players have respect for him. He's got toughness, can run with the football. He's a big, physical guy. I think he's got a bright future for us.”

Michigan State is blessed to have some solid quarterbacks on the roster. Good men and football players. Led by fifth year senior Tyler O’Connor who leads on and off the field.