Following a surprise retirement from Mark Dantonio, Michigan State went out and hired Colorado head coach Mel Tucker. His first order of business was trying to pluck someone off Mark Stoops’ staff at Kentucky.
After considering the job, recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow decided to stay at Kentucky and is being paid very well thanks to that decision. However, that pursuit was a clear sign — the Spartans and Wildcats were going to duel on the recruiting trail.
Most of those battles were expected to go on in Ohio and Michigan as both programs dueled for high school prospects.