Michigan State Football: What’s on a Spartan fan’s ideal Christmas wish list?

1. Personnel changes

All of us have called for a coordinator’s head during the course of this season. Frankly, offense, defense, and special teams all let the Spartans down in 2022 at various points.

Scottie Hazelton’s defense and Harlon Barnett’s secondary struggled massively, as highlighted when I discussed our defensive backs. It got to the point where coach Mel Tucker elected to aid in coaching the defensive backs. Now, I am not a collegiate football coach by any means, but a head coach taking another coach’s role and doing the job themselves sounds like there is already a foot out the door.

On offense, Jay Johnson was exposed without Kenneth Walker III turning 1-yard plays into 20-yard gains. The play-calling got the Spartans in trouble multiple times, with the prime example being Washington. Granted, the offensive line struggled so much that it was hard to tell if Johnson’s play calling was the issue. Some of the depth chart decisions were head-scratchers, such as Eli Collins being buried at the third option when he outperformed backup Jarek Broussard and on occasion, bettered starter Jalen Berger.

On special teams, Ross Els’ units really appeared to have no solid plan. This did not matter much for the punting unit, as MSU had the best punter in the nation on its side. On kickoffs, the Spartans let up big plays and were not a cohesive unit, highlighted by the Indiana touchdown. The worst decision of all, however, was the kicking game. We had two separate kickers to attempt long or short field goals. To make things worse, the kickers had opposite dominant kicking legs. The unit was a jumbled-up mess and the Spartans attempted among the least field goals in the FBS and only made 50 percent of them. Multiple extra points were shanked and the unit was just a loop of questions.

That being said, Hazelton started turning things around at the end of the year and I would not mind another year for him to prove himself. Johnson was not great, but the offensive line did no favors. As long as he avoids jet sweeps to the short side of the field, I can accept Johnson getting a year to prove this year was just a bad set of circumstances. Both appear to be good recruiters, considering the caliber of players Tucker has them hosting and bringing in. The same applies for Barnett, as former players rave about him and he has praise from all angles. The only defense I have for Els is that he lost the starting long snapper, Hank Pepper, for about half the season.

That said, for Els, I cannot say the same about keeping him on. I’m sure he is a great person, but this mess of a year on special teams has me ready for a new coordinator or at least some consistency. This staff has lost three kickers to the portal in three years and if that does not scream something wrong, I do not know what will. If Els is coordinating next year, this will be the ultimate “prove it” situation, with a new punter, likely a new kicker, and a new kickoff specialist.

After a 5-7 year, I want there to be some sign of change. After the lack of changes in 2018 and 2019, maybe I am trigger-happy, but I do not want to watch my Spartans spiral and remain stuck in their ways.

If this is my last article before the Holidays, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a Happy New Year.