For the Michigan State entry in our “Big Ten, big ’20s” series on college football in the next decade of Big Ten competition, I asked a friend on #CollegeFootballTwitter, Matthew Herek, for some perspective. Matt follows the Spartans avidly and has the gift of being a fan who will tell it straight on the Spartans. He will say things are bad if they are bad. He will say things are good if they are good. He is a reliable observer when I need the real story on Michigan State sports.
Here is what Matthew Herek said about the big question facing MSU football in the 2020s:
“The easy answer is who will be the next coach..one way or the other that’s happening in the next decade. And yet I think the bigger question is where is that coach going to recruit? Michigan’s population is shrinking, leaving fewer players to split with U of M. The best and second-best players in Ohio are staying put. The next decade will see MSU need to find a durable recruiting pipeline outside of their comfort zone.”
It does indeed seem that Mark Dantonio is not going to coach through the entirety of the 2020s. That is a relatively easy call to make, even if you think Michigan State is going to bounce back in the next few seasons. Dantonio had health problems this past decade. It will take hard work to improve MSU to Michigan’s level, let alone Penn State’s or Ohio State’s level. Even if Dantonio shows more staying power than a lot of people expect, he will probably be out of coaching by 2024 or 2025. The strain of the job will take its toll even if Michigan State has one more revival under Dantonio.
Let’s say, though, that Dantonio does NOT revive MSU in the 2020 season. He could very well step down a year from now. If that happens — and given the lack of movement on the coaching staff at Cincinnati — a lot of people in the college football industry think that Luke Fickell might have his eye on the Michigan State job. If you are unsure why Fickell would choose Michigan State, let’s remind you that Dantonio himself came from Cincinnati to coach the Spartans after the 2006 season.
If Michigan State wants to recruit Ohio well in the 2020s, Fickell would rate as an obvious choice, if Luke wants to make the trip to East Lansing. We shall see.