Going deep with the Spartans’ scheme, returning personnel, and unknowns
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Special thanks to Jon Schopp, contributor emeritus at Spartan Nation, for joining me on the Quack 12 podcast to discuss Michigan State’s roster. LISTEN HERE
After 13 seasons as head coach of the Spartans, Mark Dantonio retired in 2019. Michigan State hired Colorado head coach Mel Tucker to replace him starting in 2020, a difficult year to evaluate, but then received an extension after an 11-2 season in 2021. At the time this seemed to reverse a slide in performance over the last few years of Dantonio’s tenure, though future seasons would show that to be illusory as the overall falloff, particularly on offense, from the peak in 2014 was still ongoing through 2023:
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Tucker was fired after the second week of 2023 for inappropriate conduct with sexual violence prevention educator Brenda Tracy, and the team finished 4-8.