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Michigan State Football: Best, worst and middle case scenarios for 2020

By Jack Williams

Mel Tucker, Michigan State football (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
Mel Tucker, Michigan State football (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images) /
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PISCATAWAY, NEW JERSEY – NOVEMBER 23: Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio looks on during the second half of their game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at SHI Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NEW JERSEY – NOVEMBER 23: Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio looks on during the second half of their game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at SHI Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

Worst-case scenario

We can be honest – the program that Mark Dantonio left behind is a shadow of what it was at it’s peak. Average was beginning to become the norm in East Lansing, as the Spartans stumbled to their second six-win regular season in a row.

Dantonio left a very distinct mark (pun intended) at Michigan State in his 13 years. Most notably, MSU was known for taking low-rated high school recruits and turning them into All-American defenders.

Mel Tucker, on the other hand, has been known as an elite recruiter. It’s hard to see a coach whose strength is recruiting thrive in the Big Ten in his first year, especially considering the recruiting classes left behind for him. This isn’t to say he can’t coach up players well, but the most developed players remaining from the Mark Dantonio era are scarce. What remains is a pool of mostly three-star players and very few leaders from past seasons.

If this team can’t find its identity in a new system, the near future could be dreadful.

The worst case should be somewhere between 2-10 and 4-8. In my eyes, the only guaranteed wins are Toledo and Rutgers.

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