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Michigan State Recruiting: Caliber of 2018 class in jeopardy

By Michael Briggs

Dec 31, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio leads his team to the field before the 2015 CFP semifinal at the Cotton Bowl against the Alabama Crimson Tide at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio leads his team to the field before the 2015 CFP semifinal at the Cotton Bowl against the Alabama Crimson Tide at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports /
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Michigan State recruiting is off to a hot start for the 2018 football cycle, but don’t expect it to stay that way if the Spartan brand continues to take hits.

There are many factors that determine why a student athlete decides to attend a university. This is especially true of the caliber of athletes that receive offers from Big Ten programs like Michigan State, as these young men and women are typically afforded scholarship opportunities from a large number of quality schools.

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While the MSU football program has plenty to offer a prospective recruit, one of the factors that is most commonly mentioned by eventual commits is the strong family atmosphere that head coach Mark Dantonio has cultivated. With a coaching staff that has largely remained unchanged during Dantonio’s decade-long tenure in East Lansing, the Spartans have been able to sell a sense of stability and togetherness that has helped seal the deal in many cases.

However, for the first time in quite a while, the character of the MSU football team is in question. With the cloud of a sexual assault investigation hovering over the program and a deflating three-win season fresh on the minds of recruits,  this is clearly a pivotal time for Dantonio and his staff. Despite the down year on the field in 2016, Michigan State held on to all of its commitments earned prior to the season and even landed a few more quality student-athletes in the weeks leading up to national signing day. The unwavering commitments made by these incoming freshman were a testament to the aforementioned atmosphere Dantonio has worked hard to maintain.

While the Spartans are off to a superb start earning commitments for the 2018 class, don’t expect these recruits to all stick to their pledges if more damage is inflicted on the MSU brand in the coming months. Competing programs are undoubtedly using the current state of affairs against the Spartans on the recruiting trail and their points will only become more valid if Dantonio does not steer the program out of rocky waters sooner than later.

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So sure, while it’s encouraging to see high-caliber student-athletes pledging their commitments to Michigan State, these commitments are only as strong as the caliber of the program. For MSU to return to its former state of glory, it must first appropriately handle its off-the-field issues and then get back to winning games on the field. If it can’t, Spartan fans may need to reevaluate their expectations for the future of the MSU football program.

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