Michigan State making physicality a priority during fall practices
East Lansing, Mich. – The Big Ten Network crew arrived in East Lansing Tuesday morning to a physical, up-tempo Michigan State football practice.
Business as usual for Mel Tucker’s Spartans, but something that surprised and impressed analysts Gerry DiNardo and Howard Griffith.
“It was not only a physical practice, but there was a sense of urgency,” DiNardo said during the network’s hour-long program on Tuesday. “I think that speaks to what Mel has created, as far as competition. Coaches are doing a great job in individuals. It looked like they were coaching during stretch. They have a lot to prove, they have a tough schedule, and they’re doing their best coaching in each unit, the way that they’ve done it since they’ve been here.”
“You talk about teams taking on the personality of their head coach, and that’s exactly what you see here,” Griffith said. “Coach Tucker is a no-nonsense type of guy and he wants that style of play on the field. Guys are going to get spicy, guys are going to get physical at the point of attack. That’s what they have to do. This is a good football team that can get back to some of the things that they were doing a couple of years ago. There’s no reason not to be able to do that. They just have to stay healthy.”
Tucker stated before spring practice that there would be an open competition at every position. He’s stayed true to his word, and that has manifested itself in the intense practices that DiNardo and Griffith described.
“The guys are competing and they know that nothing’s going to be given to them,” Tucker said. “They’re going to get what they’ve earned at every single position. And that’s every single day, every drill, every meeting, every walk-through. That’s the attitude they take. So there’s a lot of intentional focus at every position.”
“When you make a statement like that, when you talk about, ‘Everything’s open,’ that’s sending a message,” Griffith said. “You’re really sending a message to your team that it’s just not good enough. We have to elevate, whether it’s through the portal, whether it’s young guys stepping up and playing, or whether it’s guys just getting it. That’s what you want to have. That’s the kind of competition that you want to have. There’s really no complacency or reason to be complacent because even if you’re a starter, you need to continue to work and try to get the best effort you can out of your performances.”
Michigan State’s practices have always been fast-moving and intense since Tucker arrived in East Lansing four years ago. He and his staff have done their best to emulate NFL practices using their own experience in the league.
But there’s an added emphasis on intentional physicality and toughness heading into the 2023 season.
“We’ve been trying to teach them to turn it on and turn it off and try to get after each other because Coach Tuck is talking about, ‘Hey, we’re physical,’” said defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton. “‘It’s one of the things that we are. We’re going to go and we’re going to (out-tough) people.’ Toughness is the number one thing.
“There were some times today where we (the defensive front) said, ‘Hey, listen, this is what we’re going to be in. O-line, come tee off on us. We’re going to be short in the box, let’s see if we can go make through plays and stress those guys that we want to stress as we move into the season.’ So it was pretty typical.”
Tucker made some slight adjustments in the spring to try to avoid the type of injury issues Michigan State experienced last season. Some of those changes likely carried over into the fall. But now that the Spartans are wearing full pads, the physicality is allowed to increase a bit more, with purpose.
“We made some changes in how we practice, like how much contact we have,” Tucker. “We had a lot of injuries a year ago and it was a big problem for us. In the spring, we just adjusted some things in terms of what type of contact we have, how much we have, how much thud we do, how much live, how much tag and it’s worked out well for us.”
Michigan State’s coaching staff hopes they’ve struck gold in demanding proper toughness this fall while doing all they can to limit unnecessary contact. Tucker knows Michigan State will have to bring a certain level of physicality to games in order to improve from last season.
“They have something to prove,” DiNardo said. “Last year was not acceptable. You can just feel it. You can hear the coaches coaching it. That’s why I think they’re having such physical practices.”
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