We hit it. We're there. Were here, nothing music, and we're
gonna go. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, and for all my
friends in the cheap seats in the back, welcome to This is Sparta ms
U. I am Ju Calcrik alongside Otis Wiley and Big stray Jason Strayhorn.
Welcome to the show. It is Thursday, June fifteenth. We appreciate you
guys joining in. Be sure to hit the like and subscribe button below if
this is your first time listening. The live chat is where all the action's
at. It's a family affair. Jump in the live chat. Make sure
you hit that like button. Drop your pancakes, fellas, what's happening,
what's happening? What's happening? Man? Hey, man? And I appreciate
that. That looks good. That was good with about thirty seconds. Notice
you know what I mean. But we gotta do what we can do,
uh with the cards that were dealt. I'm coming right now back from Columbus,
Ohio. Had a camp little situation down there with Kayden who was on
the show last week or two days ago, and Cody, who are rolling
back with me right now. But hey, nothing stops this show. Guys,
I'm glad to be here otis how about you? Oh man, it's
Thursday, you know it's one more day, one more day into the good
Friday. Man, But uh been good, been good. You know,
just kind of getting ready to uh for the weekend, which ain't no plans,
but you know how so I know you've been traveling on the road and
going crazy with the boys, getting them to all the Midwest schools. So
you know, one appreciate you and your sacrifice. Man, driving he's part,
so he's safe, he's a hands free he's part. So just everybody
out there following. You know, he's not driving in and doing the show
tonight, the road show. Well that but that's the that's the beauty about
playing sports and playing football. You can adapt to anything. There's is like
sudden change right now. You know, the defense was out there for a
long drive to get a turnover. You know, the offense is on the
field and think an interception or a fumble and hey they have to be back
out there. That's suddenly, Oh did you hate that? That's right?
We practiced that that situation from football. You gotta change and you gotta sprint
out there. It's like, why are we spread out there? You know,
possession, You've got time, right, But I think it is it
But like, so, yeah, that's a good question. You have time.
But is it that in that sudden change training? Is it a thing
like you've spraint out there to make it look like, hey, we're good,
we're ready for this. I mean yeah, kind of like you know,
you just got sat down on the bench and got the good kul aid
and gator rings. You drenching, and all of a sudden, yeah,
you hear the crowd go oh. And then you know the worst, The
worst is when you're running out there and it's one of the offensive players like,
oh, come on, guys, get the ball back for us.
It's like it's always those whore like slapping hands. He's like, all right,
man, we'll try our best get it done. That is I think
that body language is important though, because you know, as an offensive guy,
when we going on the field after getting a turnover, if we see
the defense looking pissed off because their offenses gave the ball up and their body
language is bad, oh, we're salivating, gonna kill you. So you
know that, you know you need to be out there with that good energy,
high energy, like you're excited that you get a chance to get the
ball back yourselves or or else. It's it's curtains. But that's part of
life. Man. You gotta play and roll with punches, right too,
Hey, absolutely have to roll the punches. So let's roll into the show
here, guys. You know, yes, you know, just going through
the whole Twitter machine and something popped up, and you know, we shot
it along to each other and it's the USA today released the top twenty five
revenue earning college football programs, and you know in that top twenty five,
Michigan State is number twelve in that top twenty five. And something that also
really surprised me. I don't know if how it caught you, guys,
is eight out of that of the twenty five schools in there were big ten
schools. What is that? What says you? Otis is what says me?
I don't know. You know, when you pull up the article and
you read it and then you're like, all right, let me let me
go. I'm gonna read some of the top let me just go down to
like the ranking, right, I was like, I just want to see
this on there, right, So you're all scrolling like, oh, we're
twelve. I think it sells a lot to I guess the entire afletic departm
right, Like we talk about the wins bringing a lot of you know,
revenue, but it looks good and it feels good that you're on that list
post COVID because everything had to get you know, pushed to a halt and
you know, you had a refund or you try to you know, keep
the money, trying to move the money. And from this standpoint, I
think there's nowhere else to go but up right, Like being on this list
shows that we're in the top programs, you know, in respectable programs at
that and just just just know, like football turns all the way up and
has success, it trickled down effect to every area of the athletic department when
the football program is winning and winning the right way. So I enjoyed looking
and reading those statistics because clearly I'm in a revenue generating role as my job,
and so that just gives me a sense of not security, but more
so just confidence that we're doing the right things in the right way. Yeah,
And that's a very good point. And Jason, you know, otis
hit on it. You know, we have nowhere to go but up.
But think about this, alcohol sales now going to be coming, you know,
to the stadium to Michigan State. Currently right now, Michigan State,
Michigan and Nebraska are the only three teams in the Big Ten that do not
allow alcohol. So how do you think this is going to impact you know,
the revenue stream here stray and to U two otis well before straight says,
so it is still it's still a part like it's great, next step,
there's still one more. So I just want to calm this down because
everyone's like, we're doing it, We're doing it. No, calm down.
We still got some things to work out, but it is the next
step in the right direction versus the wrong direction. So go ahead, straight
your thoughts. Look, you know, when you see eight Big Ten teams
on this, I mean I want to be very clear. I know that
a lot of times we are on this show, we're talking about, you
know, hey, we need to do better at Michigan State because of what's
going on in the SEC and all that. But let's be very very very
clear about this. The Big Ten is in the halves, not the have
nots and Michigan State is in the upper tier of the Big Ten and you
can see that in the revenue that Michigan State is generating being number twelve on
that list Michigan State and the rest of the Big ten schools. When you
think about the conference realignment that's happening in the you know, the expansions that's
happening, it's primarily in the SEC and the Big Ten. Those are the
two conferences. If there is to be a mega conference that would someday maybe
break away or so ultimately it will be the Big Ten in that along with
the SEC. There's gonna be There's there's no threat in my opinion or factually
that the Big Ten in some way is hurting for money. That's you know,
I think they had a what is it, an eight billion dollar ill
by CBS that tells you a lot about what the Big Ten can generate.
And there's a lot of eyeballs. You know the fact that Michigan's the Big
Ten now has expanded from the East coast all the way from Maryland and Rutgers
all the way over to California with USC and UCLA. That's all about eyeballs,
rooftops, that's how the media folks look at it. Look at how
many people the population and the states that the Big Ten is in, and
look at the stadiums. The stadiums. There's not many schools around the United
States that fill up seventy to one hundred and ten thousand seat stadiums on a
regular weekend and week out basis. And the Big Ten that's going to be
strong for a long time, and I'm excited about it. It's good to
see that ranking, Michigan State being twelve right now, and hopefully they can
continue to rise as we continue to get better on the field, which will
bring more revenue. And you know, hopefully alcohol does get past at some
point and Otis and everybody on this show could be very very happy. Yeah,
absolutely, you know, it's it's really you know you're talking about you
know, Big Ten, you know, expanding you know to Rutgers and Maryland
and all those different Now it's gonna be you know, we're gonna in twenty
twenty four we're gonna see the first real big expansion out west. And there's
gonna be more to come with UCLA and USC joining. So a couple of
weeks or a couple of days ago. You know, the schedules came out,
the future schedules came out for the twenty twenty four and twenty twenty five
future schedules came out, and what we noticed was a glaring for the fur
the Spartans. There was none of those you know, there's no UCLA,
there's no USC you know in those in that schedule for twenty twenty four.
In twenty twenty five, you know, we we have we host UCLA and
then we go to USC. But what do you guys think, you know,
Michigan State not being in you know, with those guys in the first
year, is it the is it a lack of production of the you know,
the down season that we had. I feel like it wasn't to be
a marquee game. You know, what are your thoughts on that? Yeah?
I do think that's a great question. Yeah, I mean great question.
I honestly think it's it's all about media, all about TV right now
from that standpoint of just how the matchups play with obviously other conferences and in
premiere primetime games if you think of but I mean, we also were playing
Washington, so we're having this PAC twelve kind of feel right now. For
this season and next season. I honestly think it's great for us to kind
of see how it all fits in this, you know, for next season.
But like I get it, we're sending our schedules ahead of time,
which is always good, but like, be where we are right now.
Let's take care of this season and prepare for knowing that it's gonna get tougher
and on the road and obviously in competitive in the competition in the conference.
Uh, It's like, let's let's play ball, Let's do it right this
season to prepare for uh next season and having a strong gear that we are
absolutely have to bring in the Bruins and obviously the Trojan. So I don't
know, I'm indifferent from a standpoint, I'm actually glad we're not playing a
right out the bat, not because of the programs success and lack of season
and wins and losses, just just from a logistics and geographical standpoint, I
think it's just good for us to not be included for that first time next
season. Yeah, So I'm just straight to you. Do you find it?
Do you see any disrespect in that? Slightly? But here's the thing
about that, you know they're going to try to get the best matchups for
TV ratings right away, to get those eyeballs on those games right away.
But here's the thing. What also goes away is divisions. In twenty twenty
four, no more divisions, So it's not gonna be an East versus West
situation. The best two teams in the Big Ten will be in Indianapolis or
wherever the Big Ten Championship game will be held. I'm not sure sure.
Usually it's send Lucas Oil down in Indianapolis. So this is an opportunity.
This isn't a I wouldn't take this as a slight and say, oh man,
let's scrap and wait till twenty twenty five. You absolutely have an opportunity
right here to be in the Big Ten Championship game without having to play USC
and UCLA's that's really how you look at it. So it doesn't matter in
the game of football, the game of life. You control what you can
control. We can't control the schedule. It is what it is. So
Michigan State has an opportunity to be one of the two to be in that
discussion. And then, also, guys, the playoff does expand to twelve
teams in twenty twenty four as well. So a lot of things good things
on the horizon for the Spartans if we can continue to recruit and continue to
gel and push this team forward to where you know, Michigan State has been
in recent history and where mal Tucker Will wants to take this program. Yeah,
you know those are all you know good and keep points there. And
you know when you say to be like Del's afi like it's an absolute snub,
I'm waiting. No I I took him. You know, I thought
about it at first, and you know straight, you know, hit a
good point on you know, right in there, say you play who's on
the schedule and to your point, and when we talked about you know,
where the game's being played otis, you said, you know, we can
play in the Mario parking lot. We can play you know whatever. You
know, that's at the end of the day. We have to do what
we have to do. But also too, if we want to get these
marquee games, we have to win football games. It's that simple. If
we want to be the one prime time all the time, we have to
win games. If we want to be you know, the first to to
you know, play USC get a crack at them, get a crack at
UCLA. All that Glen's the glimmer and the Hollywood lights and everything like that.
We have to win football games and position ourselves in that to do so.
So you know, let's you know, talking to this and we have
a special guest that's going to join us, you know, right now,
Jesse Simitoon. He is a national college football columnist at on three. Jesse,
you know, he's a guy. He was born in the South uh.
Former beat writer covering the Florida Gators, the Tennessee Volunteers, worked for
the Miami Herald, SEC Country and volquest dot com, among others. Jesse,
welcome to This is part of MSU. I'm welcome boys, thanks for
having me go talk to some Michigan State faithful. My mom started her master's
degree up in East Lansing, so I got got a little bit of Greeen
in my family, just a little bit. So there you go, there
you go. I love it. That is awesome. Uh, you know,
you're you're down in you know, SEC Country and everything like that,
and you know the scheduling everything, you know, with the realignment people joining
you know from you know, like Oklahoma's gonna be coming to SEC. But
in the Big ten country here, with USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten,
what impact do you think that you know, brings to the co well
that kind of listening to you guys talk for a few minutes before I jumped
in on here, I mean, I think you guys, you guys kind
of touch still on the subject that this only will kind of help the Big
Ten financially, and they're they're in a position of strength as is, and
now this just makes them, along with the SEC, you know, two
of the pre eminent conferences in the sport. And so the SEC is choosing
to kind of go by it a little bit differently that they kind of want
to maintain that geographical footprint where every kind of state touches each other. Still,
but the Big ten saying, hey, you know, and Kevin Warren
started it, and I think the next Commission is going to continue it,
that we want to be a coast to coast conference. And so you know,
you got Rutgers on one end, you got USC and U C l
A on the other. I think ultimately we're probably a couple of years down
the road from this happening. But I think ultimately it makes sense for the
Big Ten to kind of continue to expand out west, whether that is an
Oregon in Washington, so they have kind of an even deeper footprint out there.
And then you know, just this week we kind of heard both the
SEC and the Big Ten are interested still in North Carolina, Virginia, those
types of schools because again, we know what this is. This comes down
to TV money finances and how many homes can you put this Big Ten network
and these you know, football games in and so those are two big markets
of Virginia, DC market the North Carolina Charlotte market. So I think it's
a huge move for the conference. I'm excited about the schedule in twenty four
twenty five. I know again Michigan State's not playing one of those two teams
out west. Their schedules still gonna be just as hard with Michigan, Penn
State, and Ohio State still on the slate. So big things happening across
college football. It's an exciting time to be covering the sport. Hey Jesse,
Yeah, great joining us tonight. You could be anywhere else, but
it's some time with us, So we appreciate it. Man. You know,
from a standpoint of we talked about a lot of people are thinking about
when this was announced, you know, they're thinking about, Yes, the
big revenue generating sports football, basketball, you know from a logistics standpoint,
traveling all across the country to play, Yeah, that's big, finding Danny.
But the trickle down effect to the other sports that you have to truly
spend a lot of time to go out there and play USC UCLA. And
we talked about the in your article that you wrote, was like the flex
protect plus is good, Like that whole system of we're not going to put
any parameters on the divisions just yet, but we're going to allow it to
kind of grow, right, We're allowing it to We're going to start it
and then even you know, if it makes sense, we'll rebrand it.
But you know, you mentioned that the Big ten is not good and the
kind of rebranding names of the divisions where me and Chuchu were in the Legends
and the Leaders and then you got the West and East and was like,
what is what's what is this? Like what's going on? But you know,
what is it? What is it going to do to the other sports?
As we have to figure out just travel budgets and getting over and making
sure everyone's playing each other in the other sports. Well, that's I think
that's kind of the months of ball kind of hanging out there. For all
these conferences that are continuing to look at expansion and realignment for football and basketball,
it makes sense that they're doing these models with flexibility in mind. Again,
there's no reason to tie yourselves into faux rivalries. Let let these things
happen organically. But for a sport like gymnastics or a sport like you know,
women's basketball or baseball, I think there's gonna be some complications and some
growing pains for kind of all parties involved, because again you're talking about logistical
nightmares in terms of some of these scheduling. I think that's why, ultimately,
I think it just behooves the Big Ten if they really want to be
this kind of coast to coast league, to grab two of the other pre
eminent programs out there in Washington and Oregon. So at least you do have
kind of a deeper footprint. So say you're playing a baseball series or whatever,
they can go play back to back out there and that you know you're
not coming home. I do think, you know, to kind of spin
this back to football, it makes sense that they're basically saying, all right,
every school, if you're going to LA, you just go once a
season, so you're not going out there twice. The LA schools are going
to have to obviously kind of huff it more to kind of come to the
you know, come to the Midwest a whole lot more. But that's kind
of the pennies they pay for getting, you know, the greater, the
greater, you know, piece of the pie that they weren't going to have
access to in the PAC twelve. So again, flexibility, I think,
uh is kind of the name of the game here. Big ten not great
at branding, but the SEC could take note on the way they did their
nine game schedule and not pigeonholing themselves into kind of you know, trying to
create rivalries that just don't exists. That's god like, which what which which
teams that the rivals league that don't exist? Which give us a full example
because people following what are those teams that they try to create something but just
didn't work out in the SEC or or SEC? Yeah? Oh well,
I mean I I just I think that you know, a South Carolina fan
thinks that a Georgia like thinks that Georgia is like their biggest rival, and
Georgia's like will shrug their shoulders at South Carolina Tennessee. You know, Tennessee
has probably more rivals than anyone quote unquote in the SEC because their storied nature
and how long that program has been around. But vallfans care much more about
the Alabamas and the Georgias of the world than they do Kentucky. Whereas Kentucky
if they went into a room and it was a blind vote of who is
your number one rival, they would vote Tennessee because of the beer barrel and
that the fact that they'd played one hundred times. So again, it's I
think what the Big Ten did was right. Like Penn State said, you
know what, we don't really have any rivals, even though we've been in
the league for a long time. You know we our only rival is we
really just don't want to play Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State every
year. So just give us one or two of them instead of three and
we're fine. And the Big Ten was like okay, And then but Iowa
was like, we want to play three teams every year, and the Big
Ten was like okay, and so I just think that makes sense. Definitely.
Yeah, that's a great point. And you coming from the SEC,
you've seen Rabbit fan bases up close and personal, right and for the volunteers,
as you said with Tennessee, you know, looking at the expansion of
the Big Ten. You just touched on the potential for Michigan for the Big
Ten to bring in Oregon in Washington, and you talked about the DC market
as well as the Carolinas. Is there any talk out there that you've been
hearing as a national columnist about Florida. So I've heard rumblings of like schools
like Miami and Florida State being somebody that's in the purview of the Big Ten
as well. Yeah, I mean, I'm certainly touched in on realignment stuff.
I think the ACC is kind of complicated because of their grant of rights
deals. You know, it's well documented that they can't get out of there
until twenty thirty six or you know, a long time away. And so
right now they're talking about doing some revenue sharing. If I'm a Boston College
or Wake Forest, I don't know why I would give up even a synth
of my piece of the pie when you know these teams are just gonna leave
the first chance they can. Anyways. But I actually think that Florida State
and Miami, Florida, Miami, maybe Florida State would be a little bit
of an odd fit I think in the Big Ten because it doesn't kind of
meet some of the academic stuff that kind of the conference, you know,
would prefer to kind of uphold. That's why again I think North Carolina,
Virginia, those sorts of schools make more sense on the ACC not only because
of the markets, but because of the you know, the academic press SiGe
they come. With Miami, a private school, it is a little bit
better. So I could see that fit potentially. I think we all agree
that at some point, may not be in ten years, maybe it's in
twenty years, but there's going to be kind of a seismic, the next
seismic shift in realignment, it's going to be just two superpower conferences. I
do think that's that that's where we're going, you know, ultimately in college
football. Yeah, and that's a good point there that you hit on.
You just said that too, super conference and I know, last question before
we let you go, once again, appreciate you joining us here. This
is a Jesse from on three you know National columnless joining us here on this
is Sparta MSU. But before you go, you know, we talked about
you know, Big Ten reaching coast to coast, you know, and finding
different teams, you know, the Washington Organs and everything like that, and
you just hit a little bit. Do you see realistically, you know,
super conferences, you know, the Big Ten, you know having you know,
going like kind of splitting the equator line, you know in the United
States everything you know North Mason Dixon School, Mason Dixon below, uh is
uh you know SEC School. Do you see those two and then the ACC
somewhere floating around because they're locked into that deal for until twenty thirty six.
Well, I think the super if, if if the super Conferences ultimately do
come to fruition, which I think we're at least going down that path,
those the powerhouse ACC programs Florida State, Clemson, Miami nor those those schools
will be involved in what I would deem maybe like I'm thinking like forty teams,
thirty five teams, and so when you're talking like that you're looking at
almost more like the NFL, AFC, NFC. It's not even necessarily Big
ten s. It's going to be like again, maybe the Big ten doesn't
need to be involved in the naming rights. But we'll we'll we'll certainly take
y'all's fourteenth, you know, fourteen teams because of the quality of those teams.
But it's gonna look, it's just gonna be the top thirty ish or
so programs I think in the country kind of splitting off and doing their own
thing. I just think that's ultimately the way it has. So whether it's
a Mason Dixon line or if it's just an uh, you know what,
you want to cut it by two, AFC, NFC, whatever however you
want to name it, I think that's the path that we're heading down.
All right, Once again, this is Jesse with on three. Appreciate you
taking the time to join us. You know, we'd love to have you
come back again. Maybe when we get closer to the season, you know,
get you know, get back and talk some you know in you know
season and talk about the conferences, talk about you know, scheduling and everything
like that. And you don't get your take on. You know, who
do you think will be the national champion this year? But we'd love to
see I'm back at walk, you know, welcoming spartanation and thank you for
joining us on. This is part of MSU. Appreciate you having me guys,
y'all, good night. Yeah, guys, you know that's what we
talk about. You know, it's a lot of changes coming in. We
have to pull resources from all over the place. You try to figure this
thing out. Yeah, that was good, you know, yeah, you
got to do it. I think it's there's so much news happening and there's
no education, so everyone's kind of taking the narrative right like you know,
this is like beer sales. You know, everyone's like news and then you
get the good news and you spread it, but you then start to figure
out there's different misinformation. But just to hear him how it's been set up
and how we're trending. You know, these guys are in it all the
time and understanding that they have sources that you know, they can't write articles
without good sources too. So from a standpoint of bringing in the leaders or
the thought industry leaders in their field to help us and help spartanation. But
any of our followers understand more about what's happening. It's a good thing.
So that was great, great to bring Jesse on. Yeah. Absolutely.
Hey remember on Tuesday when we're talking, everyone's all this guy's fall in Michigan
State doesn't have any commits and I was like, God, what's gonna happen?
Where are we? Well, we have two commits and we have Corey
Robinson from two four seven Sports will be joining us after this very special message
from our friends at I Hop I Hoppy Hour starting at six dollars at three
pm only for my hop dollop and join the rewards program today. All right,
now, I had high Hop. I had high Hop this morning.
So I had them at Bourbon Bacon eggs, bended dick again, so laughing
again. Man, it's like, man, you know, awesome, But
pancakes a lot of pancakes in the chat. Look at them. Absolutely.
So we talk about commercials, we talk about marketing, we talk about brand
placements. Like you see all these commercials for so long you're like, Babo,
give me my hot and then that's that's how we do it, right,
So if you hold your worth his time, you better go see your
local ie hot and get to get some good, good meal for breakfast or
I got to try those burgers too. So yeah, guys, we talked
about it on Tuesday when we're out having dinner for Missalicia's birthday, and uh,
you know we're talking. You know, we have fourteen defensive backs on
on on in that defensive back room right now. They're gonna have to expand,
put more chairs and you know, get more eyepads for the defensive backs
there. But you got a huge meeting room right now. They got a
huge meeting room. So they got a room. Yeah. So and you
know the thing is, you know, bringing in, you know, a
new defensive backs coach to you know, be paired along with coach Barnett there.
But you know, we talked about it, you know, on Tuesday
that you know, Michigan's they hadn't seen the commits commitments coming in and you
know we're in about what our third week in this June now about you know,
these official visits rolling through and official unofficial visits you know, coming through,
and we picked up in the last couple of days. We picked up
two recruits and two more defensive backs. We have Cameron Campbell out from Florida
cornerback are gonna be He said he's a thousand percent committed to Michigan State.
Go Green guys, thoughts. I mean also adding in Reggie Powers and yeah
also too, we have you know, safety from Ohio. You know they
say Ohio boys can ball. See camra is one thousand percent. Raggie's one
hundred percent committed hashtag Spartan dogs. So he is in these graphics. I
mean, these graphics are money that these kids make these days. I know
them, you know. I feel like we need to re create like ours.
Let's see what we would do. No, I think I think this
is this is good picture, right, I think this is this is a
good good pick ups from commitments. But I feel like we've been we've been
jaded and like Earn so many times with these commitments that it ain't it ain't
solidified until they signed on the dotted line. But a thousand percent and one
hundred percent, like obviously you got to go with a thousand percent. He's
for sure, he's sure. But let's hope that these guys are sticking to,
you know, their commitments like old school. But it's good to know
that coach Barnett and and it's it's Jim coach Jim Lessen Lesson AnyWho, there
we go coach Sogato. You know, it's it's good to show that they're
bringing in some talent, right like, because at first we're like, where's
the depth that or hey, are we too young? Is that why we're
bringing in transfer portal kids and dbs with experience, And then we're getting a
lot in the h you know, in this this next class. It just
shows that we're on the trail and and people, I mean, we're getting
guys out of Florida. You know, there's a lot of opportunities to go
somewhere else else and they're coming all the way up north. So it's a
true testament to coach Tuck and obviously our defensive staff of getting these guys in
here. We got to get the no flies on back because if you control
the air, you know, we already know we got a run stopping defense,
but if you can control that air, we'll be dangerous. Now that's
a great point right there, when you just I just saw Darrant Tatum,
who knows a thing or two about the defensive. Second, they're five DB's
on the field. I all need a reserve and they do get hurt sometimes,
that's absolutely true. You know, they're they're the four to two five
defense of Michigan State runs. Uh is it means five defensive back so four
defense into linemen, two linebackers, five defensive backs. So you can't ever
have too many fast guys on your team. And from the defensive standpoint and
also special team standpoint, so bringing talent on your team, raising your team
speed, it's it's great. I mean I literally I just saw the Ohio
State team practicing, you know, doing their off the field whatever they go
ot as they call them now like the NFL, and and team speed is
important, guys, It's extremely important seeing a lot of fast guys there.
So bringing raising that team speed is a good thing. But you know,
asking us about the recruits, I think it's kind of crude. When we
have a guy like Corey Robinson that's hanging in the wings back here, who
can tell us details on each of these players. Are we gonna bring him
on the show? Hey, what's up, guys? How you doing?
From two four to seven Sports joins the show, How you guys doing?
I had a great intro for you, but straight just took it. I
had, I had it laid down, I had some theme music that was
gonna bring you in and everything I had to you know, the rich.
Now you understand how it feels. I've never I know but you but but
I have been interrupted shots fire, Cory Man, Cory you are I know
this is busy month, man, but uh, you know, talk about
you know, obviously the two guys that we just picked up. You know,
it's crazy because somebody had just told us on Twitter or socials like,
I don't see all the commitments. What's what's going on? Are we doing
our job? And and all of a sudden it's boom boom boom, back
and back back to back. But talk about Cameron Campbell and Reggie Powers.
Yeah, for a minute, I had to retrain myself on how to write
a commitment article a venom and before you know, you just have you know,
you just chop it out pop pop pop and you know it so as
a while because Reggie Powers will talk with him. First, Alan True,
our Midwest guy, called that one. He wanted to do the article with
the quote, so he did that one. So my last one, I
think was I guess a. J Allen did AJ Dennis too because he called
Asian Asian connection since they're both Asian, so he did that one. So
my last one was Logan Bennett, which was a while ago, so I
had to kind of retrain myself on how to do a commitment article again and
how to line it up. But we got it done before Cameron Campbell announced
it. I think we might have been the only site that had those quotes
before he announced, but we'll go with him first, just because that's kind
of a cool story. At the camp yesterday, my colleague Justin Finn and
Steven Brooks, they saw Harlan Barnett celebrating with a phone in his hand,
getting excited and everything, and then he brought the phone over to Mel and
Mel started going crazy. So we're like, all right, something happened.
And at first I was like, Oh, it's probably just Reggie just saying
hey, I'm announcing tonight, even though they knew about it for since last
weekend. But then I started thinking about it, I'm like, no,
it's gotta they're that excited. So then I kind of realized it's got to
be Cameron. If it was Harlan, that got the call because that was
his primary recruiter. So I had reached out to Cameron. I said,
hey, did you get any more visits coming up, kind of being coy
with it, and he said no, I don't think I am. And
then Mike, did you commit? And he said yeah. So then we
actually talked about how I saw him actually committed in the field and the coach's
reactions. So yeah, it was good to kind of get that when that
happens at a camp, and then the type of player they're getting. You
know, he's out of Tampa, Florida. He's six foot one. I
think he's a one eighty, so he's got to pack on a little bit
more weight. But when you turn on the film, he's four four two
guy, and that's running track. So it's not just you know, he's
saying I ran this. He's actually got the verified times running in track,
so it's a legit, legitimate one. Then when you look at his tape,
you know he's he's got the long arms that you see in DBS now,
which is really becoming a trend. And even though he's not that big,
he's definitely you know, he's not one of those defensive backs that grabbing
at the ankles and just trying to, you know, slap it to knock
the guy down. He's hitting him high in the chest in stomach area.
So once he adds it on that extra strength, you know he's going to
become even more physical as a corner. But then you see good instincts from
him too, so like he's a good pickup. We got to get him
rated on our site and I think a couple others because he kind of blew
up out of nowhere. Michigan State was his first offer at the end of
April, and then I think he had fourteen by the time he committed.
I think he got six of them the day before his Michigan State official because
everybody saw he was going there, so they turned on the film and they're
like, oh man, this kid can play. So I think he'll be
a high three star once we finally get to the point. But he's a
guy that could make a run at that four star status with a strong senior
year, So he was definitely a big pickup. Corey talk about I'm sorry,
talk about once you make the commitment, and that is actually public news,
right, Like you've made the commitment and the amount of aggressiveness that other
schools are coming at kids now, you know, talk about kind of the
mental journey that the student athletes are now having to kind of go through and
understand, Like I want to be committed, but people are now going to
start bringing in bigger, shinier things. But like what is going through you
know these guys mind was to make a commitment and what they're going to be
enduring or have to endure until they sign on the downe. Yeah, I
think it's all different, like how you handle it. There's certain guys that
just they don't respond, you know, So if you really want to be
committed in you're one hundred percent or one thousand percent, then maybe you just
don't respond to those texts. And I think Michigan State's got some guys in
the class that definitely fall in that category. I imagine Reggie Powers and Cameron
campbeller probably the same type of players. But we'll find out, because you
know, you can think you know everything about a recruit, but in this
era, it's just a different ballgame. So but I think Michigan States should
feel good about it. They did it the right way on the visit,
so I won't expect it, but in twenty twenty three, you can never
say never. And I guess I never touched on Reggie Powers either where and
that first one. He's a physical safety. It's kind of like he kind
of reminds me a little bit of Isaiah Lewis, the Antonio guy, where
it's just a heavy, heavy hitter where he just likes to blow people up.
He's physical, he shows good instincts, So I think he's gonna be
one of those future leaders and kind of the enforcer in the secondary for years
to come once he gets here. Very smart pick up there. And even
with going back to Campbell, if you turn on his tape, I know
otis he played defensive back, so you probably if you've watched the tape,
there's things you look at with with Campbo. You see like him just keeping
his eyes on the quarterback and how quickly once he recognizes the ball is about
to come out, how quickly he closes to get interceptions or break the plays
up definitely stands out with him. Yeah, you know, so two good
guys. You know that the Spartans are able to secure right now and you
know, hopefully more continuously come in. You know where We're gonna continue to
see more visits coming to campus UH in the next in the next few weeks.
You know, Corey, who should Spartan Nation be keeping an eye out
for. Is there anything any more commits that you you feel could be trickling
down? Yeah, I think you got some guys that are coming up with
playing decision dates in the end of June UH and then early July. And
then there's some other guys that they don't have them set but maybe after they
take some of their visits. Anthony Carey, he was here last weekend.
I think he's somebody that Michigan State feels really good coming out of that visit.
I think he's still gonna visit North Carolina this weekend, but I haven't
got that totally confirmed with him yet, But but Michigan State feels like they're
in a good spot there. Jeremiah Beasley, he's a hot button one out
of Belleville. Yeah. Yeah, he was here last weekend, and I
guess the rest of people following the recruitment kind of found out what I've been
trying to say since the beginning, that Michigan State's not so so out of
it after all, like some people down the road might have wanted them to
believe. So, so we'll see. I mean, he's Beasley's there this
weekend. They're gonna have a lot of their commits there and they're gonna do
everything to try and swing it back. But Michigan State's in a good spot
with him. Dylan Williams and Mathudi the other two linebackers from California. They
came up on separate weekends, but they're kind of a package duo two.
Michigan State blew both of those guys away, Like when I saw them on
the list, I'm like, oh, yeah, they're good players. We
might have a shot, but you know it's gonna be tough. But following
those visits, I think Michigan States really solidified themselves as a logistic or a
legit possibility. Same with Quasi Gilmer, the California wide receiver. I think
it's Michigan State and UCLA. He wasn't going to take a few more visits,
but now he just said he's going to take Washington and then be done
with it and make a decision. So Michigan State is definitely a name to
watch there. And then this weekend's kind of funny because the first two weekends
I had graduation stuff for my son. He graduated high school. So so
the first weekend we had commencement on Sunday, so I handed pretty much everything
off to all my colleagues just because I was going to be there for that.
And then last weekend Saturday, we had the open house, so I
was still able to catch up with it, you know, but I still
had some ties to that. But this week and I have absolutely nothing on
my calendar, and Michigan State has one official visitor coming up, so this
is the one weekend. Yeah, so this is the one weekend that I
have nothing on the schedule really, and it's there one light weekend because the
other weekends have all been in that eight to twelve, eight to ten range
for visitors and this one's down to one. So that'll be interesting. I
guess he'll get a lot of attention. Decor de graph a tight end out
of California. I think that one also comes down to Michigan State in Washington
for him. So but then the next weekend will be a big one.
But I'm sure I'll be on your show before then, so we can talk
about the twenty third that one. But yeah, so it's been kind of
crazy. I think there is a lot of good positive vibes coming. I
know, Jason, you were on campus with your sons and your wife on
her birthday on Tuesday, and we had talked about privately that we've had heard
a lot of things about mel Tucker really like zeroing in and there's kind of
been a change to him where you're seeing him kind of get focused back in
and at the camp yesterday I got to I probably spent thirty five forty minutes
just talking to him. Uh, and that's the most comfortable my cats there,
we won't Yeah, but like this is spartan, but yeah, but
Tucker Love, I've never seen him that relaxed in like a public setting like
that. It just he feels like he's more comfortable. And uh, I
guess you could touch on it, Jason. Did he seem like more relaxed
or more engaged or anything on your guys visit to or a different vibe I
guess came off of him. Yeah, for sure. No, you know,
like I mean, been normal since nineteen ninety five, so it's been
a while. But yes, I think that the last you know, a
couple of years, there was a little bit of there was a shift in
the recruiting as we've seen, and now it's come back to where I think
everyone's more comfortable in the building. And it showed and the way that the
players that are coming in are responding to this. You know, obviously Michigan
State has a lot to offer, but besides you know, Lamborghinis and and
uh farm animals or whatever they call them, right, so so so it's
it's getting back to the basics and and you know, being real with the
players. That's the thing that comes through. Uh, like my own son
saw and I've heard I hear that from other players. You know. What
was very interesting to me was what you just talked about when you were at
the camp and you saw the reaction right when anytime you see a reaction of
a staff when they get someone, and it's that that's pure, just like
when you saw Andy Reid, uh when he drafted some dude out of Texas
Tech named Mahomes. I didn't know who it was, but the reaction in
that war room was like, like us they won the Super Bowl, which
they did twice, and then Brad Holmes like, if you think about that,
if you're a Detroit Lions fan. This year, watching that war room
with the NFL draft, when they selected Jremior Gibbs out of Alabama, the
running back, it was almost like, you know, like he had a
game winning shot in the NBA Final. You know when they celebrate like that
when they get acquire a player or get a commitment, then you think this
kid must be special. He's not even really on the radar as you're saying.
You know, he didn't have that was like his first offer, you
said, Michigan State back in April. And between April and today, that's
only two months. He's gone from zero to how many offers fourteen and most
of them are Power five. So it's not even like it's not no disrespect
to the Charlotte forty nine ers there or some of those teams. You know,
it's like they're legitimate offers, right, So there's there's something happening there,
you know. And I know we look at numbers. That's not our
job. Like there's people that are literally paid to manage the rosters and all
that. That's what all they're focusing on. I know, we can say
there's fourteen dvs. Look, man, these guys get paid a lot of
money to follow this stuff and they're not like doing it by the seat of
their pants. So you know that there's something good happening when you see reactions
like that. And now you're starting to see the recruits start to commit.
And as you know, Corey, guys like these things aren't on the whim
decisions. These things are planned before they're announced. You know, these these
guys have really been toiling over and thinking about it, and I think that
the way that they're going about it will have less of what Otis talked about
guys renigging and going somewhere else because they see something shinier and all that you're
gonna because it's a more quality guy, more quality recruiting all the way around.
In my opinion. You know, that's a that's a very very good
point that you just made their stray talking about that quality. And I was
gonna ask you that, Corey. You know, last year we saw,
you know, like we all joke about it. Now we saw the Lambos,
the g wagons, the Rose Royce, the Cane Corso's, the goats,
the couches on the Spartan Stadium field. And this year it's more hone
in. It's that quality time. You know, you saw I saw a
video, you know, Coach Tucker giving each recruit a ride in the sling
shot around campus and talking to them a little bit. You know, do
you think you know, do you think that is you know, like you
know, we all talk about that quality and you know Stray just said,
you know, the glam, the glitz and everything you know will fade away.
But do you think that's having an advantage? You know too, And
do you think that also, you know, creates that sense of like you
know, more like less pressure and you know more you know, Coach Tucker
can be himself, his staff can be themselves. Yeah, I think I
think that ties into what I was kind of talking about earlier and Jason confirmed
just how the vibes are different. I feel like everything's more real, like
mel is letting the guard down a little more, like he's like, you
know what, yeah, we were five and seven last year and that's not
good enough, but you know it is what it is I need, but
he knows how to fix it. So I think you're seeing that also go
into like the visits, the official visits, I know last year, like
we heard you know, like Michigan State really pushed like for commitments while they
were on campus. They're whatever last year. And that's not to say that
they're not, you know, trying to get the kids to commit, because
obviously that's their job, but it's more of like, you know, we
don't need you to tweet it out now and do this. Go home,
you know, sit on it for a minute if you need to, and
you know, we got the graphic ready when you're ready. So I mean,
Reggie Powers, he committed on the visit, so he waited till Wednesday
to do it, but I mean that was never in question. It was
just the matter of, you know, let it sink in, make sure
you're you're doing the right thing. And Cameron Campbell he didn't. He didn't
commit on the visit. He did it where he came home on you know,
Sunday, and I think he's talking about Tuesday. He kind of sat
down with the family because he got that feeling that he's like, this is
where I need to be. So I think getting the commitments like that instead
of the the pushing for them type where you know, you do it at
the spur of the moment, but you don't think it through. So I
think that'll help with the success rate overall up holding them. Yeah. Absolutely,
And once again, this is Corey Robinson joining us on. This is
Sparta MSU. Corey from two four to seven Sports, our local. This
is Sparta Expert and insighter coming in there. Corey. We look forward to
having you, you know, back on and you know, we talked about
you know, hopefully you know, we can get you locked in for next
week you know, and you know, and get your thoughts on this past
weekend visit that that's coming into tight end from our California and then you know
what's happened, what's in the hopper for next week and everything like that.
Corey, appreciate you taking the time for joining us on. This is s
PARTA MSU. Thank you, prettrecid you Corey anytime, guys see you guess
yeah, all right, yeah, guys. I mean, look, that
was great insight by Corey as always, and you know, I think that
you know, we have to remember mel Tucker's from Cleveland. Man. You
know, he ain't from Miami. He's not a flashy guy. He went
to Wisconsin. He's from Cleveland. He's a blue collar guy. And that's
really what Michigan State is. It's not a flashy school. We're not that.
That's not what really we're about. We know that that kind of stuff
sells tickets and it sell you know, you know, maybe gets clicks,
but that's not how we are as a brand. You know, that Spartan
helmet. I don't think that the three hundred those Spartans, you know,
those guys the Battle of Thermopyla were flashy guys. You know, that was
as gritty as a come right, and it's like one of those things.
He's eighteen fifty five. You had to fight and scratch and cloth for every
inch, and that's the way it's gonna be, and we just have to
embrace absolutely. I feel like when you were talking about that, like that
scene three hundred and hey, what's your profession? You know, I'm a
shoe. That's awesome the amount of times we played that right in the stands
in the stadium, and then the amount of time played that movie and team
movie time, like, it's good to hear Butler. Yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, I think you know, it's one of those things where
it's just getting back to basics. You know, overall, you got and
it's and it goes back to the fundamentals blocking and tackling. That's all it
comes down to. You know, when when you're doing this, and we
saw coach d had success when he you know, they kept their nose to
the grindstone. They were on the road. They recruited guys with chip on
the shoulders, guys that wanted to be here. And to Corey's point,
you know, he drew a good point there saying, you know, last
year they were really asking for guys to make commitments, you know, while
they were on campus and sometimes as as a young man seventeen years old,
eighteen years old, that's unfair to a kid, you know, because that
pressure that's been there otis you felt that pressure. You know, you you
got you got a dilemma. You got a dilemma, and it's like,
you know, you're either with you know, given, or we're gonna look
at someone else. You know, that's not fair at times to a seventeen
year old kid to be put on the spot. And I think that is
why we lost so many people because they just felt it was the thing to
say and then they could continue to go on. Yeah, I agree with
you on that it's like we're not gonna chase Like, we're not gonna chase
you, like, we're gonna show you who we are. And you got
to make the grown up decision, big boy decision and say hey, like
till you said. Cameron Campbell meets with his family and says, I need
to be here, like I this is where I see myself playing, you
know, three to four years right, And so I think that's a true
testament from last year to your point. We're not the g wagon school,
Like we're not like showing you like, yeah, it's good, you ain't
gonna get that car coming here, like you know, right out the jump,
So like why are we showing you that? Right? Like we're gonna
beet General Motor Cars and for it, like we're gonna get you these cars
now. But you know, this is this is the line, This is
the Simbly line. This is grit. This is the grit over the mindset
of just being gritty and tough, Like we need those guys that's gonna come
in and go through brick walls and like, I think we got two guys
like that, And I'm looking forward to kind of deep diving and getting to
know them a little bit more. And you know, I think it's great
that we should probably get them on this show to talk about it, because
they need to know. Man, Tuck, Tuck and staff are doing a
different approach and bringing these kids in and showing them that this is who we
are. And we already got that from straight too, So you know,
absolutely, and you know what this whole thing, what this whole thing,
you know, and these kids have to realize, and us as fans,
us as former players, we have to all realize and accept. It's a
process. You know, you got to go through the entire process, and
you got because at the end of the day, you're you're hoping, you're
hopefully making a commitment for the next four years of your career. So you
have to make the best decision for you. You have to explore all opportunities
and possibilities. And I tell these kids, you know, stuff it's not
you know, don't commit too early. Make sure it's the right field,
make sure it's the right fit for you. You know, we all you
know, you're not proposing three times. You know you want to do it
once, you know, but you know, make sure it's the right fit
for you, without question. Man, I agree with wholeheartedly. You're not
seeing a lot of that around the United States the country right now, a
lot of flash stuff, especially the guys who you know, the programs,
who are you know at the top, you're in, you're out and not
doing that. You don't need to do that. And I think that Michigan
State, being true to themselves will will win in the end always over trying
to become something that you are. This is we all know that, right
You don't want to be something. You can't be something that you're not.
You's got to be yourself. And I love what Male is doing right now.
Guys. It's it's gonna pay dividends in the future, the near future.
Absolutely. Well, guys, you forgot your transition again. I'm gonna
wrap it up. I'm gonna wrap it. I'm gonna see I was gonna
see the show was gonna let me wrap it. I saw you. I
was saying, Man, I'm sitting bad way go ahead, just all right,
guys. So well, first, we want to thank our guests from
the show. We want to thank Jesse from on three and and of course
you know I always want to thank our residents. Insider Corey Robinson from two
for seven Sports uh for Otis Wiley and Jason Story Him. I am Ju
Caulcrick Until next time, Pound Green, Pound and go Green, Go White,
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