Michigan State football’s 2022 recruiting class jumps into top 25

The end of the Mark Dantonio era left a sour taste in Michigan State football fans’ mouths. The veteran head coach and Spartan great took everything he built and then made it a little less shiny because of poor recruiting classes and just poor coaching by some of his assistants.

Dantonio is still considered one of the best coaches in school history and he brought the program to new heights post-2000. He had the most success of any MSU head coach since the 1960s.

But one thing he just never really did at an elite level was recruit. He found diamonds in the rough quite a bit, but when it came to landing top 25 classes, he just wasn’t that guy. He did in 2016 when he had his best class ever, but it ended up getting torn apart because of off-field issues and transfers.

When replacing Dantonio, one thing the athletic department wanted to address was the recruiting efforts. They wanted a coach who could sell the program to the nation’s best high school prospects.

Mel Tucker was brought on to do just that.

And so far, although there are mixed reviews from some fans who aren’t happy with the results yet, Tucker is doing a solid job. He took over the role of head coach after 2020 National Signing Day and then a month later, there was a nationwide dead period because of a pandemic. He never really got to recruit in person and still finished with a decent first class, including the flip of four-star linebacker Ma’a Gaoteote from USC.

The dead period only expired a few weeks ago and he’s already flexing his recruiting muscle with some big names on campus (Kiyaunta Goodwin, Katin Houser, Nicco Marchiol, Alex VanSumeren) and he’s picked up a handful of commitments during official visits.

Michigan State’s recruiting is starting to pick up under Tucker.

Michigan State football’s 2022 class quickly rising

Last week, Michigan State jumped to No. 26 in the 2022 team composite rankings after landing three-stars Quavian Carter and Braden Miller with solid offer sheets, and then it dropped back down to 30.

After landing three-star Florida receiver Jaron Glover and three-star Arizona tight end Michael Masunas, the Spartans are back up at their highest ranking under Tucker at No. 25 and No. 5 in the Big Ten.

The average rating isn’t great right now, but that’s still with big names left on the board for the Spartans in the 2022 class. Tucker is landing complementary guys who he wasn’t trending with before and that’s a good sign for the future. Kids are buying into the program quickly and he hasn’t even really gotten into the meat of his 2022 class.

Will MSU finish in the top 25 in 2022? Probably not, but if Tucker finishes in that top 30-35 range, that has to be considered a massive win for the head coach in year 1.5.

The 2023 class could end up being special at this pace.