Michigan State Football: All-time Spartan team

Nov 14, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans take the field prior to a game against the Maryland Terrapins at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

Linebacker(3): Dan Bass

The linebackers on this list could probably make the all-time team for any school had they attended a different university. When you have guys like Greg Jones, Max Bullough, Julian Peterson, Ike Reese, Charlie Thornhill, Cark Banks and Denicos Allen left off, that means that talent at the position has been oozing for the green and white since the beginning of time.

On to Dan Bass, though. Michigan State’s hard-nosed linebacker from the late-1970s was a tackling machine. He has some records at Michigan State that will likely never be broken, starting with his all-time leading 541 career tackles — that averages out to an incredible 135.3 per season. Also, he once recorded 32 tackles in a single game against Ohio State, a mark which will likely never be touched.

Bass led the Spartans in tackles for four straight seasons, joining Greg Jones as the only Spartans to ever do so. Many consider him one of the top linebackers in school history and it’s hard not to when you look at his eye-popping numbers. He helped lead Michigan State to a Big Ten title in 1978 and despite his successful career at MSU, Bass ended up playing in the Canadian Football League and not the NFL.

If you think about a linebacking group of Bass, Percy Snow and George Webster, there might not be a better all-time list in college football.

Next: Cornerback(1)