Tag: Spartans Football

The Detroit News includes Kenny Willekes among best Michigan State football players in past 25 years

The Detroit News selected the best Michigan State Football players in the past 25 years and included Defensive End Kenny Willekes.

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The Detroit News put together an impressive list of the best Michigan State football players in the past 25 years. This list features recent Spartan DE Kenny Willekes. Willekes started at Michigan State in 2016 and just wrapped up his tenure in 2019. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the 7th round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Here is what Matt Charboneau of The Detroit News wrote about Willekes:

“A former walk-on, Willekes finished his career as Michigan State’s all-time leader in tackles for loss with 51 and ranked third with 26 sacks. He won the 2019 Burlsworth Trophy, given to the nation’s most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on, and was named the 2018 Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year after leading the conference with 20.5 tackles for loss. Willekes earned second-team All-American honors twice.”

Stroll down memory lane with this list of MSU football players from the past 25 years. I think you will certainly enjoy it.

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2020 NFL draft: Brian Lewerke scouting report

Everything NFL draft fans need to know about Michigan State quarterback prospect Brian Lewerke

Brian Lewerke | QB | Michigan State

Elevator Pitch

Lewerke showed a lot of promise after his redshirt sophomore season in 2017. He regressed over his final two years but the scout thought process is if he did it once, he can do it again. He is an option to join a roster as a third quarterback or practice squad arm.

Vitals

Height | 6-2

Weight | 213

Class | Redshirt Senior

College Stats

College Bio

Combine Profile

Strengths

Lewerke has the leadership aspect to his game that teams will love. He was a three-year starter after sitting his first two seasons in East Lansing. He finished his career voted captain twice. In the pocket, he shows good pocket awareness. Will climb the pocket or move laterally to find time to release the ball. Has good touch on his throws with adequate arm strength for a NFL quarterback.

Lewerke isn’t just a passer, as he can run the football. Can show some toughness on the runs. Can play in an offense that runs with zone reads and read options with the ability to attack with his legs and arms. As far as his platform, throws from good platform. Doesn’t see a drop in play from speeding up mechanics with pressure.

Weaknesses

The regression from the sophomore campaign is concerning. After posting a 20 touchdowns and seven interception season, Lewerke threw 25 touchdowns and 24 interceptions over the next two. He never completed more than 59.6 percent of his passes. He does have some ball placement and accuracy issues that need to be cleaned up with some mechanics adjustments.

While speeding up his mechanics doesn’t seem to be an issue, his mental processing needs to speed up at times. When watching his games from this past season it felt like he stayed on his first and second reads too long before getting to the third and fourth options. At the NFL level, players move quicker and he will need to dial it up to keep with the times.

One of the worries for Lewerke is that he is a see it open, throw it quarterback. He needs to become more of a passer and less of a thrower. There really doesn’t seem to be any anticipation in his game. Also the velocity at which he throws is a question mark. He needs to work on stepping through his throws and driving the ball downfield.

Projection: Day 3

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WATCH: Mark Dantonio gives farewell address at MSU/Penn State Basketball game

Mark Dantonio, former Michigan State Football head coach, addressed the MSU Basketball crowd during halftime. Watch this clip here.

Today, Mark Dantonio shocked the world with his resignation. He also addressed the home crowd during Michigan State Basketball’s game against Penn State. As always, Dantonio was straight to the point with his farewell address

Watch Dantonio speak to the crowd below:

Fans and former players reacted all over social media to Dantonio’s resignation. He retires as the most winningest coach in Michigan State Football history and also a Rose Bowl champion. I’m glad Dantonio said goodbye to the fans at this game. Plus, watching Dantonio and Izzo chop it up on the sidelines is always such a treat.

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Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell is “front-runner” for Michigan State head-coaching gig

The Buckeyes may be seeing a familiar foe more consistently as Luke Fickell is the frontrunner for the Michigan State HC position.

The Ohio State Buckeyes could be seeing a familiar face more consistently as Luke Fickell is reportedly the frontrunner for the Michigan State head coaching position.

This report comes just hours after Mark Dantonio stepped down as Michigan State’s head football coach. Dantonio has been the Spartans’ coach since 2007 and has recorded six winning seasons in that time.

As for Fickell, he started off his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Ohio State, left for Akron and returned to eventually become the program’s defensive coordinator.

After the 2016 season, Fickell left to take the head coaching position at Cincinnati, a program he’s completely turned around. After a 4-8 win season in 2017, Fickell has gone 22-5 in the last two seasons.

That type of success gets big-time programs like Michigan State looking, and Fickell may soon be the Spartans coach.

“Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell is the front-runner to replace Mark Dantonio as Michigan State’s football coach, multiple sources with knowledge of the athletic department’s thinking told the Free Press on Tuesday,” Detroit Free Press‘ Chris Solari reported.

This will be quite the development and a testament to how skilled of a coach Fickell is. Trained at Ohio State, it should make the university proud to see his continued success.

The only question if the offer comes, is if Fickell is willing to make the leap to another team with a different view of rivalry with Michigan.

Former Michigan State Head Coach George Perles Passes Away

In 1983 he was hired to be the head coach of his alma mater where he led the Spartans through 1994, leading them to the Rose Bowl in 1987 which was their first trip to the game in 22 years at the time.

Former Michigan State defensive tackle, head coach and the man who helped oversee one of the NFL’s greatest dynasties died Wednesday at the age of 85.

George Perles played on the Michigan State defensive line from 1954-56 before returning to East Lansing as an assistant coach from 1959-70.  His ability to coach consistently strong defensive lines helped lead him to Pittsburgh where he coached the defensive line starting in 1972 until 1982 when he took a job in the short-lived USFL.

In 1983 he was hired to be the head coach of his alma mater where he led the Spartans through 1994, leading them to the Rose Bowl in 1987 which was their first trip to the game in 22 years at the time.

As much success as Perles brought to Michigan State, beating Notre Dame is something he had much trouble with, going just 2-10 against the Irish.  Even in the 1987 season that saw Sparty finish the year as Rose Bowl Champions, Michigan State lost at Notre Dame 31-8 in September in a game that helped launch Tim Brown’s eventual Heisman campaign.

Perles finished his career with a 68-67-4 record at Michigan State.