News, Notes, and Thoughts from Spartan Football
The Spartan Nation is abuzz; Blake Treadwell is going to practice center this spring.  Each and every spring in almost all programs, guys get looks at other spots. It doesn’t mean any of these moves are permanent.  It just means that they'll get a look.
In my next Spartan Football news and notes column I will have my projected starting lineups for next season. Expect some surprises.
Weeks ago, Spartan Nation reported Dan Roushar would be the new OC. With MSU issuing a press statement, I wonder what the people who said we guessed wrong are saying now? By the way it wasn’t a guess, it was reporting a fact.
I have possession of the entire 17-page resume of Terry Samuel that he sent to Mark Dantonio. How I got it doesn’t matter, but it goes into a lot of details and thoughts on many subjects. I think it would interest the Spartan Nation.
Zach Azzanni, in my opinion, was an awesome choice for the job. Urban Meyer gave him great reviews as an awesome recruiter (he did a great job at Florida and CMU) and I will be shocked if Coach D doesn’t regret not hiring him. I understand there are a lot of things that go into a hire, but I do think he regrets this one.
As of last night, Samuel to MSU wasn’t a done deal. It is now. Players at CMU started getting told today as did some of their incoming recruits.
Courtney Hawkins, former Spartan great, did get a look from Coach D.  D.J. Young and J’Michael Deane are getting some love from the NFL as guards. Injuries really hurt MSU and last year’s OL was make shift. Dan Roushar did a superb job of patching them together.
The loss of Henry Conway was a gigantic set back for this program. I will be stunned if he makes it back.  He is a great kid; I feel really bad for him.  That said, he would have started last year at RT and would be our LT this year.
Imagine if things had gone as planned. Conway would be at the left and rFR Skyler Schofner on the right. Dantonio doesn’t like to play young tackles, but the right spot is there for Schofner this year and I think he takes it.  He is a rare player that is better than advertised.
Schofner dominated on scout team at times and gave glimpses of what could be an All Big Ten player. When the season kicks off, my money is that the name Schofner will be a starting offensive lineman.
Last season MSU had two guards playing at tackle and were still short a true center. Stipek was an upgrade from Nitchman, but still not at the Big Ten level this program and team need.
Each year I do a detailed analysis of all the new recruits. I have comments from other division one head coaches that I know who may have recruited or looked at them and many other details. I am waiting for one other coach to get back with me (he swears he will not be later than Monday) to finish that article.
Johnny Adams is going to have a lot of competition at corner this year, A LOT. It will be interesting to see if he can hold his spot.
Tony Lippett is on the verge of becoming the most explosive and electrifying athlete that MSU has had since Charles Rogers and maybe even Kirk Gibson. He has the potential to be a true shut down corner and a game breaking wide receiver. He can do everything.
We said that the Brad Salem hire would have a huge impact on the 2010 season and we were right. Now that he moves to recruiting coordinator I say the same for 2011. When Mark Staten moved to OL coach replacing Coach Roushar who was promoted to OC, this was a no brainer. Salem is a star and this addition to his resume just prepares him even more. He is the heir apparent to Roushar at OC when he gets a head job.
By the way, Roushar will. He is an exceptional coach. In every facet of the game Roushar is a stud. He should be a head coach right now.
Dave Warner…I got a lot of email saying they had heard other’s saying he was an option for the OC. There are issues with Warner’s performance coaching of QBs in my opinion and the a move up like that was not a good option.
