Here's what Michigan State football could look under Mel Tucker and his new hires

EAST LANSING — All of the coaching pieces are in place.

Jay Johnson will run the offense. Scottie Hazelton takes over the defense.

The question now is: What will Mel Tucker’s version of Michigan State football look like on the field?

Answers will begin to develop March 17 when the Spartans begin their 15 allowable spring practices, culminating with the annual Green and White scrimmage on April 18 at Spartan Stadium. It will be a month for coaches to get to know players, players to get to know responsibilities and for Tucker’s program to develop its identity.

More: Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker: This really feels like home

“You never want to try to fit a square peg into a round hole, so to speak. … We'll be able to evaluate in the spring,” Tucker said Monday. “It's going to be very important for us to install our base schemes on offense, defense, especially on things that we know we're going to do. At the same time, evaluate the guys that we have, so we can go into the summer programs and say. ‘OK, this is what we think we can do with this group of guys right now.’”

That might not necessarily be a clear description, and it’s understandable since he has been on the job for just nearly three weeks. But we can get an idea of what "Mel Tucker football" might look at from his primary play-callers on both sides of the ball and what he did in one season as head coach at Colorado.

Offense

This will be the most important area Tucker must fix.

The Spartans’ production has gradually declined under Mark Dantonio since a record-breaking 2014 season. A glut of injuries and lack of experience at running back culminated with an inability to rush — the cardinal tenet of the defensive-minded coach’s offensive philosophy — the past two seasons.

2019 brought a system with spread concepts for the first time under Dantonio, though first-year offensive coordinator Brad Salem maintained the balance his boss sought —468 rushing attempts, 464 passes. The Spartans averaged 371.9 yards, which ranked 95th in the Football Bowl Subdivision, but they only averaged 127.2 yards on the ground. That was 113th out of 130 FBS teams and just a slight improvement over the Dantonio-era low 124.8 rushing yards per game (114th nationally) MSU produced in 2018.

[Making sense of Brian Lewerke's decline with Michigan State]

Colorado's 2019 offense, led by Johnson and’new MSU offensive line coach/run game coordinator Chris Kapilovic, relied more on running the ball — a 51.5%-48.5% rush-pass split in 847 plays. The Buffaloes averaged 150.3 yards on the ground to rank tied for 79th nationally, but their 14 rushing TDs were just two more than the Spartans had in 2019.

Expect Johnson to retain some of the principles Salem began to use — more run-pass options, pistol and shotgun sets with quick passes and single-back sets. He also will spread the ball to the outside with "11" personnel groupings (three wide receivers and a tight end) as well as "12" personnel units (two tight ends and two wideouts).

“One of the things I like about Jay is that Jay is very adaptable,” Tucker said. “He's multiple, and he's got great experience and wisdom. He's kind of been there, done that. So, we see football the same way. And he understands that you have to do what your players can do.”

Coming from the same Nick Saban coaching tree, Tucker said he prefers the style of play Dantonio demanded — a run game that can control the clock and win battles in the trenches. But he also wants one that can maximize speed in space to make “explosive” plays and moves fast, not the old-school mindset of “3 yards and a cloud of dust."

More MSU coaching hires:

Tight ends coach Ted Gilmore from Wisconsin

RBs coach, special teams coordinator

MiSU assistants Ron Burton, Mike Tressel join staff

Barnett returning as secondary coach

“That means when we want to run it, we can. When we need to run it, we can. That's critically important,” Tucker said. “We need to make sure that we can protect the quarterback. Whatever pass-game concepts that we have, being able to protect the quarterback is crucial. We need to be able to take care of the football. The biggest determination of winning and losing in college and pro is the turnover margin. So, we need to be able to protect the football. …

“Being able to create big plays in a running game and the passing game, and maybe even use the finesse to do that at sometimes. It's really hard to, every series, (have) 13- or 14-play drives. Being able to be explosive on offense is, I think, really the way to go.”

Defense

Like Dantonio, Tucker’s background is as a secondary coach and former defensive back who served as a defensive coordinator at Ohio State. He actually took over the Buckeyes’ defense in 2004 when Dantonio left for Cincinnati, serving for one year as co-coordinator before heading to the NFL.

Unlike Dantonio — and more like Saban — Tucker made his name in the NFL coaching ranks, including defensive coordinator stints for the Browns, Jaguars and Bears. He then returned to college and, after a one-year stint with Saban at Alabama, served as Georgia’s defensive coordinator from 2016-18, where he was wildly successful.

His first order, much like on offense, will be trying to figure out what schemes and system best fit MSU’s roster, which was gutted by players departing to graduation and the NFL.

“Just really trying to figure out what the players can do and then trying to fit the scheme to that, because you know we were multiple (under Saban), and I'm multiple now,” Tucker said. “I think you have to be that way, whether I was at Alabama, Georgia or Colorado.”

Tucker said that could mean alternating between 4-3 and 3-4 packages. Dantonio and his last defensive coordinator, Mike Tressel (who remains on Tucker’s staff), had dabbled with 3-4 looks to try and generate a pass rush. Tucker used both in his NFL stints as a coordinator.

“We were in and out of those deals based upon the personnel we had and what offenses we were facing,” Tucker said. “So we'll have a very good ability to do that here, and I'm not married to any type of scheme in particular. For me, I know that if you get really good players at buying in, they run to the ball. They play hard and have technique and the fundamentals. They play together and they're unselfish. … So we'll do what the players can do best.”

Colorado operated out of a base 3-4 scheme, but Tucker and then-coordinator Tyson Summers also ran four-man fronts. But defense was the Buffaloes’ weakness in going 5-7, allowing 31.8 points per game (96th in FBS) and 288.3 passing yards per game (123rd). They were better against the run (153.6 yards, 61st nationally). Colorado managed just 24 sacks, which compounded the secondary’s struggles.

More on Tucker:

New Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker planning 'to bring juice' to Spartans

Windsor: MSU football's Mel Tucker aims to restore the program Mark Dantonio built

Enter Hazelton, who arrives after one year at Kansas State, in which he revitalized the Wildcats’ defense in the offense-heavy Big 12. Hazelton also brings an NFL background (as a position coach) along with his reputation as an up-and-coming coordinator whose units play physically and focused on generating turnovers at Wyoming and Nevada.

Working with K-State head coach Chris Klieman — who coached with Hazelton on the 2011 North Dakota State FCS championship team —, Hazelton operated a 4-3 defense that blitzed regularly. The Wildcats allowed just 21.4 points a game last season — good for 27th nationally and the program’s fewest since 2003 — and ranked second in FBS in third-down conversion rate allowed (28%). Kansas State was 15th in the FBS in fewest first downs allowed (224) and allowed 202.9 yards passing, which ranked second in the Big 12.

Hazelton explained his philosophy before Kansas State’s bowl game loss to Navy: To get the Wildcats “to play as hard as they can … and play as fast as they can.”

“I think those are two important things to us,” he told reporters. “I think these guys truly love one another. That's a big part of it. They go out there and they don't care who makes the play. They understand that they're all part of it. It allows a trust between them all.”

One thing Tucker, Hazelton and Johnson have in common: The process of learning about a new group of players and teaching their tenets from scratch is fresh. Their challenge is slightly different, though at MSU, as they walk into a program with a strong recent history of winning.

Contact Chris Solari at csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.