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Feb. 2, 2000 By Dennis Dodd SportsLine Senior Writer |
Michigan State is the dominant football program in the state?
The British were content, too, until the revolutionaries started shooting from the trees.
For one, brief moment it is perhaps time to give the Spartans their due. Overshadowed by their cross-state rival and even their own basketball team, Michigan State football is making enough progress to consider it a threat to Michigan.
When the fax machines stop whirring Wednesday, Michigan State is expected to land the top recruiting class in the Big Ten and, perhaps, the nation. First-year coach Bobby Williams has developed a national (recruiting) power before ever coaching a regular season game.
"Bobby Williams is the key," said Jeremy Crabtree, an Austin, Texas-based recruiting analyst. "He is such an energetic recruiter. He's done such a great job. If there's been a guy they needed to close on he's gone in and helped close the deal on him."
Wednesday was a tiny blow against the Michigan empire but there are other signs:
1. Michigan State beat Michigan in 1999 en route to a 10-2 season, its best since the national championship season in 1966. Although the two schools finished with the same regular season record, Michigan was selected as a Bowl Championship Series at-large team. Just another reason to hate Michigan in East Lansing.
Before that game it is believed that Michigan State hadn't been favored to beat Michigan in their annual showdown for more than 30 years.
2. Michigan State out-recruited Michigan for the first time in recent years. It landed the second-best class in the nation Wednesday according to PrepStar. At worse, Williams landed a consensus top 15 class even without Detroit tight end Eric Knott.
Knott committed to Michigan State but was found to have been charged in the rape of a 13-year-old. Michigan State has backed off and is holding a scholarship for Knott if and when his legal problems clear up.
3. When Nick Saban left for LSU, the entire staff stayed at Michigan State even though that might have left their jobs in jeopardy. Saban reportedly left an airplane bound for Baton Rouge on an East Lansing runway for any assistants who wanted to board. None did. The staff remained, in part, because of the rosy recruiting outlook.
"When Nick left it was like, 'Why can't we keep this thing going?' said Michigan State offensive line coach Golden Pat Ruel. "Instead of splitting guys up, we stayed together. The next three or four years are going to be a fun time at Michigan State."
4. The solidarity paid off Wednesday when Michigan State arguably landed its best recruiting class since 1974. That class included former pros Larry Bethea and Ed Smith.
Wednesday's class included blue-chip quarterback Jeff Smoker from Lancaster, Penn., and receiver Charlie Rogers from Saginaw, Mich., who is rated by some services the top player in the nation.
If that's not enough, Williams landed one of the top two players in Canada, tight end Luke Mullinder.
Canada? Call it international loyalty to a cause. That's why 50 Spartans showed up at Michigan State president Peter MacPherson's home to stump for Williams. As a 10-year veteran of the staff spanning two coaches, Williams had proved his work.
Before the 1999 season, Saban elevated him to associate head coach.
"The big thing I had to do was show the administration that I had plans to move the program forward," Williams said. "I assured them that we were going to prepare hard. We're going to demand. We're going to try to develop all the relationships that are necessary."
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| Plaxico Burress was a key for Michigan State in beating Michigan in 1999. Now the Spartans have to win without the receiver. (Allsport) |
Part of the continuing momentum was Michigan State's quick action on Williams. The veteran of the staff was the clear choice of the players and other coaches even when Minnesota's Glen Mason and the 49ers' Steve Mariucci were mentioned.
Williams became only the sixth black coach in Division I-A but that was hardly a politically correct hire. Coaches like him, players like him and recruits are getting to like him.
"He said, 'I want all walk-ons treated as if they're on scholarship,' Ruel said. "We've got to treat them as if they're an integral part of the program. He knows all the walk-ons' names. I haven't been around many guys like that."
The kudos rolled in even before the Citrus Bowl victory over Florida. Not only did the Spartans beat an SEC established power, it showed a little spunk when Florida started talking smack. They didn't back down.
"It was a lot different," said cornerback Amp Campbell, one of 12 starters Williams will lose. "There was no cussing going on (in practice). No yelling. Everything went according to plan."
The unspoken plan is to build Michigan State into the state's dominant power. In recent years, that thinking was akin to heresy. After all, Michigan did have a share in the national title two years ago.
The overthrow won't happen overnight, with the Spartans losing those 12 starters, including receiver Plaxico Burress. But the future started on Wednesday.
Smoker, from eastern Pennsylvania, was pursued by Penn State and asked to commit one day after the 1999 signing day. While he considered his options, Penn State signed two other quarterbacks. Smoker committed to Saban's Michigan State in July.
When Saban left, Smoker told recruiters he was on hold until Michigan State hired a coach. The naming of Williams clinched the deal.
"I had met pretty much the whole staff," Smoker said. "When the staff all stayed, it meant that they all got along. They work together well. It told me maybe something about Coach Saban. There's a reason they all stayed."