Michigan State football OL coach Jim Michalczik looks to carry on his Spartan heritage

Michigan State football's new offensive line coach Jim Michalczik has helped develop top-level offensive linemen throughout his coaching career.

But did you know, he's the son of a Spartan alum?

Legacy has always been a huge term around Michigan State and not just in athletics. Yes I'm talking about Michigan State's new offensive line coach.

No he didn't go to Michigan State, but he is the son of an alum. Jim may have grown up on the West Coast, much like most of the new staff for the Spartans, but he grew up hearing all about the green and white.

Michalczik's mother, Maxine, graduated as a medical technologist from Michigan State, before moving west to the Seattle area, and settling down, where Jim was later born in 1966, and can fondly remember hearing "go green" throughout his life he told Chris Solari from the Detroit Free Press.

"I grew up hearing about the Spartans," Michalczik said. "Even though I was a West Coast kid and spent my whole life on the West Coast, she was always talking about the Spartans and the Big Ten."

Unfortunately, his mother passed away in 2012, right before Mark Dantonio famously led the team to three straight top-five finishes in the country, with one of the best offensive lines seen in many years.

Offensive line play is the name of the game, and also of us in Spartan Nation, know it hasn't been up to par for a while now. There have been strong individuals on the offensive line like Nick Samac and AJ Arcuri just to name a few, but to be great your line has to be good as a whole unit.

That will be Michalczik job as the offensive line coach for his mom's alma mater, as he will try to rejuvenate the group that has struggled over the past several years.

He was a huge difference maker at his last several coaching jobs, including with Jonathan Smith at Oregon State, where they produced strong running backs, and strong offensive linemen, which is the biggest thing that has lacked for the Spartans for years.

Outside of the miracle season by Kenneth Walker in 2021, the Spartans haven't had a 1,000-yard rusher since 2014 with Jeremy Langford.

This past year was by far the worst rushing season Michigan State football has ever had, as they couldn't even average 100 yards per game on the ground, putting up just 89.5 yards per game, which was 125th out of 130 teams at the FBS level.

Michalczik was up for the Broyles Award in 2023, which is awarded to the nations top assistant coach, so he's definitely the type of coach, we fans have been looking for to improve our offensive line, that has lacked for years now.

The best thing about it all, is he inherits a young and pretty much unproven group of linemen, with a great transfer addition in Tanner Miller, who was a all-conference player at Oregon State.

The players and Michalczik have plenty to prove this year, and I'm sure his mom is smiling down, knowing her son is coaching at her beloved alma mater.