Mel Tucker provides thoughts on spring scrimmage vs. opponent

One of the big topics in college football this spring has been the format of spring games and the potential to scrimmage another team. Now, Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker has given his thoughts on the topic.

Several coaches have already spoken out in favor of playing scrimmages against another program, rather than continuing with glorified practices, which is really what spring games are. That includes Auburn’s Hugh Freeze and Florida’s Billy Napier.

“Well, we won’t be doing that on Saturday,” Mel Tucker said. “But I’m always open for new ideas and if I feel like it can help our program, I’d be willing to listen.”

Given that Tucker comes from an SEC background, it isn’t surprising that he agrees with coaches from that region that it’s worth looking into to see if it could help.

Mel Tucker was then asked, more specifically, if he thinks that the idea would help his program. However, he admitted that he doesn’t know if it actually would or not.

“You know, it all depends. I’ve been like in the NFL where you, not preseason games, but you practice against another team for a couple of days and sometimes they can be good, sometimes not so good,” Tucker said.

“So, it really just depends on who those people are and the coaching staff and what you want to get done. So, it’s really case by case. Those are kind of hypothetical. So, I can’t really answer that, but what do you think?”

Mel Tucker on the return of suspended players

Last season, Michigan State suffered through an ugly incident when a fight took place in the tunnel at the Big House. Now, eight players who were suspended due to that incident are back with the team, practicing and getting ready for the 2023 season.

Now, Mel Tucker has addressed those players returning from suspension.

“They’ve integrated well. They’ve been back with us for quite some time now. And so it’s something we’ve gone past it, and we’re moving forward,” said Tucker.

“You saw those guys were out there playing for us and starting for us. And obviously, they were doing that because we feel like they gave us the best chance to win games; with those guys being in those roles. You don’t necessarily get better when those guys aren’t in there. I’m glad that we have them back, and we’ll continue to move forward with them. You typically don’t get better when you lose good players.”