3 Questions Mel Tucker Will Be Asked At Big Ten Media Days

The Big Ten is the most buzzing conference currently in the college football world. With lots of new storylines, there will be plenty of questions for the league’s coaches and players at Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis this coming week.

Coaches will be asked about conference and playoff expansion, the transfer portal and name, image and likeness. These topics aren’t new, but coaches and players' opinions may have changed as the college football landscape changes everyday.

But what about questions specifically for Michigan State? Head coach Mel Tucker is entering his fourth season in East Lansing, looking for an upswing in momentum. Since the end of the 2022 season, the fanbase has more questions than answers concerning the Spartans.

Here are three topics that Tucker will be asked plenty about on Wednesday’s media availability:

Who’s Leading The Quarterback Battle?

This will be the biggest Michigan State topic. It has been the biggest topic since spring practice, and will continue to be going into fall camp.

While there was a battle going into spring practice, two-year starter Payton Thorne transferring after spring threw everyone for a loop. While the three-quarterback battle was expected to be narrowed to two eventually, Thorne being the guy to leave via the transfer portal was an unexpected development.

Since seeing the quarterbacks during MSU’s open practice, there hasn’t been much for fans to chew on in terms of story developments here. Everyone wants updates as to who may have the lead in the quarterback room now. The battle between redshirt junior Noah Kim and redshirt freshman Katin Houser will continue into the fall, and potentially into the season.

The coaching staff, including Tucker and offensive coordinator/QB coach Jay Johnson have kept their cards close to the vest. That itself has been interpreted many different ways by fans and media. While they haven’t said much about who’s winning the battle, the question will still be asked.

What Impact Will New Coaching Hires Make?

While the transfer portal had an impact to the makeup of Michigan State’s football team, there were coaching changes as well. Defensive line coach Marco Coleman left for Georgia Tech and pass rush specialist Brandon Jordan was hired by the Seattle Seahawks.

Both guys were two of MSU’s better recruiters, but Tucker did a good job bringing in suitable replacements with the potential to pick up where they left off. Coleman’s replacement, Diron Reynolds, brings experience from Stanford, coaching multiple NFL defensive lineman. While there is no direct replacement for Jordan, hiring cornerbacks coach Jim Salgado brings NFL coaching experience to help a young position group in need of improvement.

Defensive line and cornerbacks were an issue last season. With injuries and suspensions, players were moved to different positions, and younger players saw the field earlier than expected.

Questions about depth and recruiting will emerge. While the Spartans have cornerbacks committed for the 2024 recruiting cycle, they are yet to land a defensive lineman. Coleman and Jordan were two great recruiters, bringing high end defensive line recruits to MSU. Can Reynolds land big talent too?

Can Spartans Bounce Back?

There are a lot of different questions for this topic. After a 5-7 season, can Tucker prove Michigan State is headed in the right direction?

It’s not just about getting to six wins and making it back to a bowl game. How will the Spartans’ running game improve? Will they get better production out of the players they got from the transfer portal? Can they knock off Washington, or Penn State, or Michigan?

Tucker believes this is the deepest roster he’s had since he arrived in East Lansing. While that’s promising, there still a lot of uncertainty given the up and down nature of the last two seasons. While none of these questions will have clear answers in late July, they are major talking points until the season kicks off in September.