Michigan State Football: 3 storylines to follow in spring 2021

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Michigan State’s head coach Mel Tucker walks the field during warm ups before the game against Ohio State on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.201205 Msu Osu 017a /

2. First real spring for Mel Tucker

Mel Tucker had no offseason or spring to prepare for the 2020 season and he still managed to piece together a semi-competitive team that took down two ranked opponents on its way to a 2-5 season. He beat his top rival and shocked the best team from the Big Ten West, so there were flashes of brilliance in an otherwise dull year.

Tucker also figured out the quarterback situation a little later than hoped as Payton Thorne was a diamond in the rough who wasn’t uncovered until the final weeks of the season.

With his roster taking shape and transfers getting on campus, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of progress is made under Tucker and his staff in their first real spring together.

Players seem to really like Tucker and his coaching style and we’ll see if that translates to the spring game with some motivated play.

We also get to see what kind of spring game he’ll have. Over the years, Mark Dantonio had drafts and unorthodox scoring rules but Tucker said that he wants more of a live scrimmage feel. That would be refreshing because we could see just a straight-up Green vs. White game — that would be a welcomed sight.

Let’s see how Tucker handles spring No. 1 as MSU head coach.

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