Mel Tucker shares philosophy on competition battles

The spring is undoubtedly about competition within a football program. It allows for an opportunity for players to separate themselves and make a case to see a majority of the snaps at a given position. That’s exactly the case at Michigan State as Mel Tucker says he’s willing to play anyone and, in his eyes, everyone hopefully.

Tucker commented on the Spartan’s position battles this spring during a press conference last month. He started by saying that it doesn’t matter how young or experienced you are in their locker room. If you can impact winning for the program, he says you’re going to get your shot in East Lansing next season.

“First, I tell the players if you’re good enough? You’re old enough. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a freshman. Or if you’re a returning starter for two or three years,” Tucker said during the media availability. “Whoever we feel like is gonna give us the best chance? We’re gonna go out there, put them out there on the field, and give them the opportunity to play to show us what they can do.”

Tucker went on to say that the staff is evaluating these competitions individually. They’re willing to get flexible if more than one player steps up at a specific spot. That’s their policy as, considering he recruited these players to the program, he wants to see as many of them make a difference for Michigan State as possible.

“It’s always case by case. If it’s even with guys? And both guys (make us) feel like they give us the best chance to win with two or three guys to play at one position? We’ll do that if we feel like they give us the best chance,” said Tucker. “We want as many guys to be out there playing as possible. (I) don’t bring guys here to sit. We bring them here to play. We’ll just have to see how it goes. That’s at any position.”

This was already the case for the Spartans earlier on back in April. With several players, specifically Keon Coleman and Payton Thorne, choosing to enter the transfer portal, though, even more layers have been added to these competitions across their team.

Still, as Tucker said, everyone is going to get their fair shake heading into this fall. It doesn’t particularly matter who makes things happen at what spot. In the end, he is just willing to play anyone if they can help improve on last season’s 5-7 record.