Will Michigan State Football Bring Back Seniors for Another Year?
East Lansing, MI – The last home game of any regular-season customarily represents senior day, as several players are honored before kickoff.
But due to the coronavirus pandemic, MSU played Ohio State inside an empty Spartan Stadium outside of staff, media, coaches, and student-athletes.
So, in 2020, there was no celebration.
However, COVID-19 presented more questions than answers, paving the way for the NCAA to grant fall sport athletes an additional year of eligibility, meaning Michigan State might see their seniors return for 2021.
Good news, right? Maybe not for everyone; coaches aren't required to bring them back.
"There are some that may come back, but we'll just have to see because everyone's going to make a decision what's based upon their best interests. That's kind of how it goes nowadays," Mel Tucker told reporters Tuesday afternoon. "It's really a fluid process."
The Spartans have 16 seniors on the roster, including ten players who have started at least one game this year.
Seniors Who Started At Least One Game in 2020
- PK Matt Coghlin
- TE Matt Dotson
- CB Dominique Long
- S Tre Person
- LB Antjuan Simmons
- DT Naquan Jones
- LT AJ Arcuri
- C Matt Allen
- DE Jacub Panasiuk
- DE Drew Beesley
Michigan State replaced the usual festivities by posting "Senior Spotlight" videos through its Twitter account with athletes recapping their time in East Lansing.
Senior right tackle Jordan Reid (opted out with concerns about COVID-19) didn't receive a send-off via social media, nor did Panasiuk or Allen.
Yet, Beesley, Person, Dotson, Long, Arcuri, Jones, Coghlin, and Simmons did.
But the fifth-year defensive end wasn't able to give details about his plans just yet.
"That's something I need to talk to Coach Tuck and the rest of the coaches about, so I can't comment on that yet," he said.
The 25th head football coach in school history is close to signing his first recruiting class and hasn't held back when talking about revamping the roster through the transfer portal.
Those sentiments might play a part in who returns or doesn't.
"We'll take it on an individual basis, and then we'll make decisions on those guys, guys will make decisions if they want to come back or not," said Tucker.
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