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Michigan State Football: 2016 recruiting class a sign of things to come

By Souichi Terada

Nov 28, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio leads his team onto the field prior to a game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio leads his team onto the field prior to a game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports /
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Michigan State football’s 2016 recruiting class is Mark Dantonio’s best ever and a sign of things to come.

It’s astonishing what Mark Dantonio has had to go through as the head coach of Michigan State football.

Dantonio inherited a football program that was below .500 in 2006 and brought it all the way to the second annual College Football Playoff.

It’s gotten to the point where fans are blatantly expecting a national championship. Just getting there isn’t enough. Getting demolished by the Alabama Crimson Tide is a completely different (and sad) story, though.

However, there’s no denying how successful of a season it was for the Spartans. While fans from rival schools will point quickly to the blowout loss, the team deserved every bit of how they got there, and the entire process of getting to the CFP is what makes MSU’s head coach great.

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Dantonio is almost constantly overshadowed by the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes. To both programs’ credit, they’re historically great with hoards of national titles.

Michigan is the winningest program in college football history and now has one of the best coaches in the nation in Jim Harbaugh. Urban Meyer is in the process of making a national powerhouse in OSU again already winning the inaugural CFP.

Both Michigan and OSU represent part of MSU’s struggles. It’s hard to out-recruit these teams with the name brands. Fans may be put off by Harbaugh’s antics recently, but he’s doing a great job advertising and getting his and Michigan’s name out there.

But that’s why this 2016 recruiting class is a huge sign for Michigan State football and their fans. While MSU might seem like they limped to the finish, that’s not entirely the case.

Dantonio and his crew had commitments from their class for ages now. While they finished with 19 after four-star Auston Robertson had issues, this still a strong class capable of helping MSU’s title cause.

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    • The highlight of the class is arguably Donnie Corley or Josh King cementing some of the best talent MSU has brought to East Lansing.

    While Michigan State can take pride in the fact that they were finally able to reel in premier talent, they still have a lot of work to do. Everyone knows it’s how you develop talent, not how much of it you have.

    But for a team who has won a Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl in recent years, that shouldn’t be a problem. Sporting News has MSU as one of the most overachieving programs based on its past recruiting classes.

    And it’s true, Michigan State has had no problems developing the talent they already have on their roster. At least five of MSU’s players are headed to the NFL draft this year: Jack Allen, Aaron Burbridge, Connor Cook, Shilique Calhoun and Jack Conklin — possibly a couple more.

    Dec 31, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio before the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2015 Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
    Dec 31, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio before the game against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2015 Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

    The thing is, all five of them are projected to go somewhere in the earlier rounds. They’re the epitome of the leaders that carried the team to heights once thought unfathomable.

    Here’s the kicker, though. Allen, Cook, and Calhoun were all 3-star recruits coming into college, according to ESPN. Conklin was a walk-on and is forgoing his senior year to play in the NFL.

    What Dantonio and his staff have done with guys that weren’t deemed as elite prospects is impressive, to say the least.

    When describing recruits, he said it best. Dantonio mentioned that trust is a big part of their recruiting process. And in this day of grey shirts and soft commitments, that’s a fact.

    But there’s still a lot of work to be done for MSU. The Spartans were manhandled by Alabama just a bit ago and the wounds are fresh. They must take the natural next step and that’s to be a contender year in and year out.

    If Michigan State wants to win its first national championship in over 50 years, it has a lot of work to do, but this 2016 recruiting class, Dantonio’s best, is a step in the right direction.

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