RADIO RECAP: Michigan State HC Mel Tucker talks special teams, previews Central Michigan
East Lansing, Mich. – Mel Tucker returned to the airwaves Wednesday night for his first radio show of the 2023 season. Accompanied by longtime Michigan State football play-by-play broadcaster George Blaha, the fourth-year Michigan State head coach provided an update on the Spartans’ special teams units and previewed Friday’s season opener against Central Michigan.
Who will step up for Michigan State on special teams?
Michigan State’s kicking game disappointed last season, due in part to inconsistent play at the place kicker position and the midseason loss of starting long snapper Hank Pepper to an undisclosed ailment.
Tucker, however, has high hopes for this year’s kicking operation. He was more willing to provide specific player-related updates on Wednesday’s radio show than he was during Monday’s press conference.
“The kicking game, we think, is going to be much improved,” Tucker said. “We brought in Jonathan Kim from UNC-Chapel Hill. He has a huge leg. He’s done a great job in camp. We have our long snapper (Pepper) back, so I don’t really see an issue there.”
Kim played in 36 games over four seasons for the Tar Heels, from 2019-22. He was North Carolina’s kickoff specialist during that time. Kim showed off his leg strength as a Tar Heel by kicking 189 of his 239 total kickoffs for touchbacks (79 percent).
Kim has only two point-after attempts to his name as a place kicker. But Kim’s competition at the position, walk-on Stephen Rusnak, has just five. Rusnak played behind longtime starter Matt Coghlin as a freshman in 2021, and then behind freshman Jack Stone and Auburn transfer Ben Patton in 2022.
As for the punting situation, Tucker said that redshirt freshman Ryan Eckley has “done a really good job in camp.” Tucker also mentioned that the Lithia, Fla., native has “been booming the ball.”
That’s a positive for the Spartans, who are looking to replace All-American Bryce Baringer at the position. Whoever wins the starting job – Eckley or Ohio State transfer Michael O’Shaughnessy – has some large shoes to fill.
“It’s just like who’s the next Ken Walker, right?” Tucker said. “Those guys come, like, every 30-35 years. And Bryce is the same way. That guy was unbelievable. But in practice, those guys have done a really good job punting the ball.”
“Our operation is good, our protection’s been great,” Tucker said. “(Special teams coordinator) Ross Els, he’s a real pro. He does a great job with our special teams. He takes pride in it. The players have really bought into it. I mean, I have guys coming up to me after meetings asking me if they can be on special teams, and that’s not something that’s normal. These are veteran players who know how important it is, especially after last year. You don’t even notice the long snapper until you don’t have one, when Hank was out. You don’t really notice the kickers that much until you can’t really make a 22-yarder from the left hash. So the players know how important it is.”
Central Michigan preview
When Michigan State takes the field on Friday, it will play a Central Michigan team led by Jim McElwain, an old friend of Tucker’s who has Spartan ties.
The 61-year-old McElwain joined former Michigan State coach John L. Smith’s staff as wide receivers and special teams coach from 2003-05.
Years later, in 2012, McElwain took the head coaching job at Colorado State, where he stayed for three seasons. He won Mountain West Coach of the Year in 2014 after leading the Rams to a 10-2 record.
Florida hired McElwain in 2014, and the following season, he won SEC Coach of the Year after guiding Florida to a 10-2 regular season record. McElwain and Tucker met numerous times in McElwain’s three seasons at Florida. Tucker served as defensive backs coach at Alabama and defensive coordinator at Georgia during that span.
McElwain won his third conference Coach of the Year award in 2019, his first season as head coach for Central Michigan. The Chippewas finished with an 8-4 regular season record that year.
“First of fall, he’s a great guy,” Tucker said of McElwain. “But he’s an outstanding coach. I’ve coached against him a couple times in the SEC, at Alabama and at Georgia. He’s one of those guys who will scheme you up. He has a great offensive mind. He’ll formation you to death. He knows how to get the matchups. Wherever you’re weak, he’ll have a plan to try to exploit that. And they always score points. You watch them against Penn State last year, they went to Happy Valley and got after those guys pretty good. It’s going to be a barnburner, for sure.”
Tucker was referring to Central Michigan’s 33-14 week four loss to Penn State last season, which was a one-score game at halftime.
But Central Michigan ultimately finished 2022 with a 4-8 record, McElwain’s first losing season in Mount Pleasant. Following the season, the Chippewas lost starting running back Lew Nichols to the NFL. Nichols rushed for 616 yards and six touchdowns on 176 carries last year.
Like Michigan State, Central Michigan is in the midst of a quarterback battle. Following starter Daniel Richardson’s departure to Florida Atlantic this offseason, redshirt sophomore Jase Bauer and redshirt freshman Bert Emanuel, Jr. were left to compete for the job.
Tucker, however, continued where he left off on Monday by complimenting Central Michigan’s defense. Tucker noticed on film that the Chippewas are quick to change their looks to try to make opposing teams uncomfortable.
Central Michigan returned nine starters on defense, including 2022 First Team All-MAC selection Donte Kent and junior safety Trey Jones.
“I’m expecting them to come out and try to pressure our quarterback,” Tucker said. “Try to give him different looks. They do a great job from a scheme standpoint. They mix their fronts, they mix their coverages. They’ll all-out blitz you, they’ll mix in some zones. They do a great job disguising things. They’ll try to take away your best players if they can. They’re very detailed in how they attack (teams) with their defense. They have a lot of players back, which is hard to get nowadays. A lot of those guys, they’re on to the NFL or they’re in the portal, but they have a lot of guys back who will play for them. So we have our hands full, there’s no doubt about it.”
“We’re going to have to win some one-on-ones,” Tucker continued. “They’ll slide into some Bear fronts and get your guys one-on-one in the run game and also in the pass game. They’re very active with the front in terms of the stunts and the games they run. They don’t have any issue blitzing corners or bringing safeties and things like that to try to disrupt the run game and the passing game. They have a lot of good players. Everyone has good players, and these guys are no different.”
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