5 Most Interesting Things Mel Tucker Said Ahead Of Spring Football

Key topics from the start of Michigan State's spring practice season...

In March, most attention is rightfully on college basketball and the NCAA Tournament — particularly for Spartans fans and the residents around East Lansing.

However, as Tom Izzo prepares to take his squad to the Big Dance, Michigan State head football coach Mel Tucker kicked off spring practice this week.

Here are the five most interesting things that Tucker told the media before practice began:

1. ) "We have good numbers to start spring ball. Whether we're going to have a spring game or not, we'll have to see, because it's based upon who's available [and] how many healthy players we have...We'll let you know."

Michigan State has not been able to have a "normal" Green and White spring game since Tucker was hired back in 2020, due to either the COVID-19 pandemic or limited personnel.

Obviously, fans and those of us in the media would love to see a full-on scrimmage at the end of spring practice, and I think the coaches and players would prefer that as well. Tucker was non-committal on whether or not that will happen on April 15 — the Spartans' final day of spring practice — but we're hoping MSU will be healthy and deep enough to make that happen.

2.) "It's very clear that the quarterback position is open competition, and [Payton Thorne] knows that and all the quarterbacks know that. Competition is good, and we have to play the players that give us the best chance to win. Quarterback is no different...We're expecting a pretty fierce competition."

Tucker's spring policy has always been "open competition at every position". However, it was nice to hear the head coach publicly acknowledge that there is an on-going starting quarterback competition between Payton Thorne and his backups.

Redshirt freshman Katin Houser, a former four-star prospect, is a guy who was dubbed "the quarterback of the future" when he arrived last winter. Could the future start now? Don't forget about redshirt junior Noah Kim, who played well in limited reps in 2022.

Michigan State needs to run the ball better to help whoever the starting quarterback is this fall, but the QB competition will likely be the top storyline for the Spartans for the rest of the offseason.

3.) "I think it's an opportunity that BT [Jordan] wanted to explore, and I told him I'm going to support him 100%...I'm looking to bring someone in the secondary, and we'll look to get that done fairly quickly."

It came as a big surprise when pass rush specialist Brandon T. Jordan left Michigan State after just one season for a job in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks. It was also unfortunate that Jordan's decision came just 10 days before the Spartans' began spring practice.

Tucker already had to replace 2022 defensive line coach Marco Coleman by hiring former Stanford D-line coach Diron Reynolds. Jordan's departure opens up another spot on the coaching staff, and Tucker said he's looking to bring in another secondary coach — probably a cornerbacks coach — to help out Harlon Barnett. Tucker directly worked with MSU's cornerbacks last season, but it appears he doesn't want to split his head coaching duties with coaching a position group again in 2023.

4.) "[Darius Snow is] still sore. He'll be ready when he's ready."

Tucker had a bit of a tongue-in-cheek answer when asked about the health status of linebacker Darius Snow, who suffered a season-ending right leg injury during the Spartans' 2022 season-opener against Western Michigan.

The head coach is notoriously and understandably close-lipped when it comes to injuries during football season, and jokingly provided the above quote with a big smile, quickly followed by an "I'm sorry."

While I understand Tucker's policy on discussing injuries, it was disappointing to not get more of an update on Snow. It's been roughly seven and a half months since the injury, and we really don't have an idea of how his recovery is going. It's likely that Snow's participation will be limited this spring, and there's virtually no chance he'd participate in a spring game if Michigan State is able to play one on April 15.

5.) "As I remember, a year ago in spring we had five scholarship offensive lineman available...Right now, we've got like 19 guys that are able to participate." 

This is great news both for the program and for Michigan State's prospects of being able to conduct a Green and White game on April 15.

Last spring, the Spartans just did not have enough healthy bodies up front to be able to split the team up and scrimmage. But it sounds like that won't be the issue this spring.

More important than a spring game, the improved health and depth at offensive line will be highly beneficial for Michigan State heading into the 2023 season. More available players means more competition, which could lead to much-needed improvement up front this fall.