Alright, the season may have just ended but it really is never ending in the college football world. National Signing Day is just two weeks away and we have some movement to come in free agency before spring ball begins. I think we can utilize this thread for transfers, coaching changes, injuries and any system changes among other things.
We have had some coaching turnover so far...
Penn State has a new offensive coordinator
Minnesota replaces their OC as well
Ohio State gets Kerry Coombs back into the fold
Michigan hires two new on the defensive side
I am sure I am missing a few here but those are the big ones so far. I will comment on the bottom two. Kerry is a big addition for OSU and if I remember correctly he is a heck of a recruiter as well. They shouldn't skip a beat. Shoop is a really good coordinator but awful as a recruiter. This feels like a quick stop for him and it will be interesting to see how he and Brown co-exist. Jean-Mary is an absolute stud recruiter and that was needed with Partridge departing for Ole Miss.
Rutgers is going after the transfer portal very hard to infuse some talent to the team. They have picked up I believe 6 guys so far. I like his aggressive approach to this to at least get them maybe somewhat competitive in the next few years. Obviously, they need to recruit better as well but you can get some pieces via portal that want playing time, no doubt.
Locally, I'll start with Michigan State first. There is many wondering if Dantonio will make any staff changes. Last year he reshuffled the deck and that didn't work out all that great. He is quite loyal to his assistants and that hurts him to be honest. I said during this year that I figured he would retire after this past season and am surprised he hasn't. Now, he just collected that big bonus so that could be part of it but next year figures to be absolutely awful for them. We shall see moving forward. They are in a very precarious position right now.
As for Michigan, they lost a few guys to the portal and Ruiz and Peoples-Jones to the draft but overall got back some players that may have been on the edge with great seasons last year. Ruiz is big loss, that is just a tough position. Now, as far as the other losses there is a lot of addition by subtractions (DPJ, Black and Dwumfour among others). Those types of players were already ready to hit the NFL last spring and were not all-in last year(yes I know it sounds weird with 2 of them). In fact, a times they wanted to shut it down and start preparing. The good thing for next year is the underclassmen are much more team oriented and want to be leaders. Win or lose, this should be a more cohesive bunch. I expect they will add 2-3 transfers before it is all said and done.
I wanted to look at the schedules for each team even this far out especially as preliminary work for RSW's and GOY's...and will do maybe 1-2 a day to get things started... we'll start with one here...
This schedule is not easy at all.
Northwestern, although they were down last year has traditionally been a battle for the Spartans for several years now. Usually Michigan State opens with a Friday night game but as of now this is a Saturday affair.
BYU on the road in the 2nd of the home and home series. Sparty hasn't had much success traveling West in recent years.
The Toledo game should be a win but you never know, especially with how the MSU roster is shaping up.
Miami comes north to the mitten state in the 4th week. This game keeps getting harder as Miami picked up Hunt's boy Lashlee and King is transferring in as well.
So, that is a pretty tough September to start with maybe one easy game and three where they certainly are not overwhelming favorites...and there is no break after...
Iowa at Iowa is always tough and this one should be no different not to mention the look ahead to the Michigan game the next week.
If that isn't bad enough, Ohio State comes to town in East Lansing after the Michigan game.
So now, off of all of that Sparty heads to Bloomington to play the Hoosiers. This should be another solid Indiana team and this series always has great games.
Is there a break yet? Nope. It is off to Minnesota to play the the Gophers.
Finally, the bye week hits about 3-4 weeks too late. There is no time to breathe though as it is off to Happy Valley to play what should be a top 10 team.
This us just a brutal 10 games in 11 weeks to start the season for a team with their returning talent level. It is going to be a feat to have 4 wins at this point.
The last two generally should be winnable games, but at this point do they have much left in the tank? Who knows.
Overall: This schedule sets up very tough. Yes, you get UM/OSU at home but this could rate out to be the weakest Spartan team in some time (yes, much less talented than 2016 team that won 3 games). I'll be very curious at what this RSW comes out at. They need to add a QB in the portal because they really do not have one right now to play at a high level. Interesting times in East Lansing....
We have had some coaching turnover so far...
Penn State has a new offensive coordinator
Minnesota replaces their OC as well
Ohio State gets Kerry Coombs back into the fold
Michigan hires two new on the defensive side
I am sure I am missing a few here but those are the big ones so far. I will comment on the bottom two. Kerry is a big addition for OSU and if I remember correctly he is a heck of a recruiter as well. They shouldn't skip a beat. Shoop is a really good coordinator but awful as a recruiter. This feels like a quick stop for him and it will be interesting to see how he and Brown co-exist. Jean-Mary is an absolute stud recruiter and that was needed with Partridge departing for Ole Miss.
Rutgers is going after the transfer portal very hard to infuse some talent to the team. They have picked up I believe 6 guys so far. I like his aggressive approach to this to at least get them maybe somewhat competitive in the next few years. Obviously, they need to recruit better as well but you can get some pieces via portal that want playing time, no doubt.
Locally, I'll start with Michigan State first. There is many wondering if Dantonio will make any staff changes. Last year he reshuffled the deck and that didn't work out all that great. He is quite loyal to his assistants and that hurts him to be honest. I said during this year that I figured he would retire after this past season and am surprised he hasn't. Now, he just collected that big bonus so that could be part of it but next year figures to be absolutely awful for them. We shall see moving forward. They are in a very precarious position right now.
As for Michigan, they lost a few guys to the portal and Ruiz and Peoples-Jones to the draft but overall got back some players that may have been on the edge with great seasons last year. Ruiz is big loss, that is just a tough position. Now, as far as the other losses there is a lot of addition by subtractions (DPJ, Black and Dwumfour among others). Those types of players were already ready to hit the NFL last spring and were not all-in last year(yes I know it sounds weird with 2 of them). In fact, a times they wanted to shut it down and start preparing. The good thing for next year is the underclassmen are much more team oriented and want to be leaders. Win or lose, this should be a more cohesive bunch. I expect they will add 2-3 transfers before it is all said and done.
I wanted to look at the schedules for each team even this far out especially as preliminary work for RSW's and GOY's...and will do maybe 1-2 a day to get things started... we'll start with one here...
| 2020 Michigan State Football Schedule | ||||
| Date | Opponent | Time/TV | Tickets | |
| Saturday Sep. 5 |  | Northwestern WildcatsSpartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI | Time TBA ETTV TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Sep. 12 |  | at BYU CougarsLaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UT | Time TBA ETTV TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Sep. 19 |  | Toledo RocketsSpartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI | Time TBA ETTV TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Sep. 26 |  | Miami (FL) Hurricanes (HC)Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI | Time TBA ETTV TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Oct. 3 |  | at Iowa HawkeyesKinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA | Time TBA ETTV TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Oct. 10 |  | Michigan WolverinesSpartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI | Time TBA ETTV TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Oct. 17 |  | Ohio State BuckeyesSpartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI | Time TBA ETTV TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Oct. 24 |  | at Indiana HoosiersMemorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN | Time TBA ETTV TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Oct. 31 |  | Minnesota Golden GophersSpartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI | Time TBA ETTV TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Nov. 7 | OFF | |||
| Saturday Nov. 14 |  | at Penn State Nittany LionsBeaver Stadium, University Park, PA | Time TBA ETTV TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Nov. 21 |  | Rutgers Scarlet KnightsSpartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI | Time TBA ETTV TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Nov. 28 |  | at Maryland TerrapinsMaryland Stadium, College Park, MD | Time TBA ETTV TBA | Buy Tickets |
This schedule is not easy at all.
Northwestern, although they were down last year has traditionally been a battle for the Spartans for several years now. Usually Michigan State opens with a Friday night game but as of now this is a Saturday affair.
BYU on the road in the 2nd of the home and home series. Sparty hasn't had much success traveling West in recent years.
The Toledo game should be a win but you never know, especially with how the MSU roster is shaping up.
Miami comes north to the mitten state in the 4th week. This game keeps getting harder as Miami picked up Hunt's boy Lashlee and King is transferring in as well.
So, that is a pretty tough September to start with maybe one easy game and three where they certainly are not overwhelming favorites...and there is no break after...
Iowa at Iowa is always tough and this one should be no different not to mention the look ahead to the Michigan game the next week.
If that isn't bad enough, Ohio State comes to town in East Lansing after the Michigan game.
So now, off of all of that Sparty heads to Bloomington to play the Hoosiers. This should be another solid Indiana team and this series always has great games.
Is there a break yet? Nope. It is off to Minnesota to play the the Gophers.
Finally, the bye week hits about 3-4 weeks too late. There is no time to breathe though as it is off to Happy Valley to play what should be a top 10 team.
This us just a brutal 10 games in 11 weeks to start the season for a team with their returning talent level. It is going to be a feat to have 4 wins at this point.
The last two generally should be winnable games, but at this point do they have much left in the tank? Who knows.
Overall: This schedule sets up very tough. Yes, you get UM/OSU at home but this could rate out to be the weakest Spartan team in some time (yes, much less talented than 2016 team that won 3 games). I'll be very curious at what this RSW comes out at. They need to add a QB in the portal because they really do not have one right now to play at a high level. Interesting times in East Lansing....
