Mel Tucker, Michigan State off to a red-hot start with 2023 recruiting class

The Spartans' coaching staff is bringing talent in East Lansing in amounts rarely seen before

Mel Tucker and Michigan State are experiencing success on the recruiting trail on levels which, perhaps, have never been seen before from Spartan football.

At the conclusion of the 2022 recruiting cycle, Michigan State's class was ranked No. 23 in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite Team Rankings. That is tied for the fifth-highest ranked class in Spartan history since 247Sports began its recruiting rankings.

The recruiting momentum from the 2022 class, combined with the success that Michigan State had on the football field in 2021 — 11-2 overall record, win over Michigan, Peach Bowl victory — has led to an early boom in recruiting for the 2023 class.

We are still extremely early in the 2023 recruiting cycle, and there is going to be a ton of movement both in player rankings and in team class rankings over the next ten months between now and the early signing period in December. With that being noted, there is still cause for a high level of excitement with the Spartans' early returns on the recruiting trail.

With five prospects committed, Michigan State currently holds the country's No. 5-ranked recruiting class for the 2023 cycle. In the Big Ten Conference, the Spartans' class trails only Penn State in the team rankings thus far as well.

Starting off the class was four-star TE Brennan Parachek out of Dexter High School. Parachek, who is ranked the No. 313 overall recruit in the 2023 class, committed to the program back in September 2021. He is the No. 18-ranked tight end prospect in the country, and the fifth-ranked prospect out of the state of Michigan.

Four-star RB Kedrick Reescano out of New Caney (HS) in Texas became the Spartans' second commitment in the class on Jan. 17. He is ranked No. 218 overall, and is the No. 13-rated running back in 2023 class. Coming from a talent-rich state, Reescano is the No. 39 recruit out of Texas.

Just in this past week, sparks have flown on the trail again for Michigan State, as three more prospects joined the fold. On Feb. 2, four-star DL Andrew Depaepe and three-star IOL Johnathan Slack both gave their verbal pledges. Then, on Feb. 7, three-star QB Bo Edmundson announced his commitment to Michigan State as well.

Depaepe, out of Pleasant Valley (HS) in Bettendorf, Iowa, is the biggest prize of the recruiting class so far. He is listed as the No. 133 overall recruit in the nation. Should that ranking hold through signing day, Depaepe would be the highest-ranked recruit for the Spartans since Devontae Dobbs (No. 51) in the 2019 class. Depaepe is the No. 18 defensive lineman in the 2023 class, and the No. 2 prospect out of the state of Iowa.

Slack, from Martin Luther King (HS) in Detroit, is a high-end three-star talent. He's ranked No. 378 in the class, No. 24 as an interior offensive lineman and the ninth-best prospect in the state of Michigan, according to 247Sports. Slack is also teammates with 2023 five-star QB Dante Moore, who the Spartans have heavily pursued.

Michigan State already has a quarterback in the class however, with the commitment of Edmundson. A three-star prospect out of Lake Travis (HS) in Austin, Edmundson is ranked No. 433 overall, No. 21 amongst quarterbacks and No. 71 in the state of Texas. While he may not be a shiny five-star prospect like Moore, there is belief that Edmundson is an overlooked prospect who will continue to rise up recruiting rankings once he gets into his senior season of high school football.

This stretch of success to begin the 2023 recruiting cycle continues the momentum that Tucker had already established with his previous class.

Tucker signed six four-star recruits in the 2022 class, which was more four-stars than Michigan State had signed in the previous four recruiting classes combined. The Spartans currently already have three four-stars committed in the 2023 class, but what is interesting is looking at where these highly-rated prospect are from.

Four out of the six four-stars that Tucker signed in 2022 were in-state prospects, with the lone exceptions being quarterback Katin Houser from California and Germie Bernard from Nevada. In the 2023 class, the Spartans already have two commitments from out-of-state, four-star prospects — Depaepe (Iowa) and Reescano (Texas). There's more work to be done as Michigan State attempts to lure more top talent out of their home states, but the Spartans early success in 2023 indicates that Mel Tucker's program is starting to become a more recognizable brand nationwide — not just for overlooked three- or two-star players, but for high-caliber four-star players.

For obvious reasons, that is a huge development for the Spartans. Tucker has aspirations of winning the Big Ten Conference and competing in the College Football Playoff on a yearly basis. To do that, Michigan State has to go through Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan, three programs within their own division who routinely out-recruit them. As we've seen from the Mark Dantonio era, recruiting rankings are not the be-all, end-all to winning the Big Ten, but closing the recruiting gap with those programs will do nothing but make the Spartans even more competitive in the loaded Big Ten East.

It will be interesting to see how this class molds and develops throughout this year. The No. 5 ranking is very unlikely to hold — as we said, we are still very early in the cycle — but the fast start has unlocked high potential for this class. The highest-rated recruiting class in Michigan State's history, according to 247Sports Team Rankings, came in 2004 when the Spartans had the No. 15-ranked class in the country.

Could MSU's 2023 class best that number? It's certainly feasible given the start they've had. We'll see where Tucker and his staff go from here.