Michigan State football: What to watch in 'Spring Showcase' on Saturday at Spartan Stadium

EAST LANSING — A new era in Michigan State football begins Saturday at Spartan Stadium.

For the second time in five years, a new coach will attempt to lead the Spartans back to the prominence they rediscovered under Mark Dantonio for the first time in a half-century. And Jonathan Smith’s biggest challenge will be to create a climate of consistency that Dantonio established and Smith’s predecessor, Mel Tucker, failed to continue in the rapidly evolving world of college football.

“I think we're progressing. I think we're working hard,” Smith said Tuesday. “I think we've got a ways to go, just like anticipating this spring to put in a new offense, defense and special teams. I do think our work ethic is there.

“But there's a lot to continue to iron out, which was anticipated. We got a big summer to do a lot of that and then into August camp.”

MSU is coming off a 4-8 season in which Tucker was fired amid an off-field scandal. It was the third time in four seasons the Spartans failed to earn a bowl berth after going to 12 in 13 seasons under Dantonio. The program went from being at the forefront of the transfer portal movement in 2021, which led to a top-10 finish and an 11-win season, to a revolving door of players filtering to and through East Lansing with marginal success.

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Enter Smith, who after six seasons left his alma mater Oregon State as it got lost in the power conference reshuffling and dissolution of the Pac-12. His hiring in November came as the Big Ten prepares to absorb four West Coast schools he and much of his staff are familiar with (USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington) and with the expanded conference eliminating divisional play for the first time since 2010, when Dantonio won a share of his first of three league titles in six years.

Though the 15th and final practice of the spring won’t be a traditional split-squad game like Dantonio and other coaches before him used, Saturday’s 2-hour public unveiling begins at 2 p.m. and will be televised on tape delay by Big Ten Network at 4 p.m. Gates at Spartan Stadium open at 12:30 p.m., with fans having an opportunity to take pictures with and get autographs from MSU coaches and players beforehand.

Then comes the football. Here are five things to keep an eye on when the Spartans take the field:

Front and center

All eyes will be on Aidan Chiles, the sophomore who followed Smith from Oregon State and almost assuredly will be the Spartans’ fourth starting quarterback in the past three seasons.

Chiles arrives with an electrifying skillset, a laser for an arm and lightning-quick ability to move the pocket with his legs. However, he has yet to start a college game, having received spot duty behind now-former Beavers starter DJ Uiagalelei in nine appearances last season. And the southern California native is also adjusting to a new area and new teammates, particularly a group of wide receivers who — beyond seniors Montorie Foster and Alante Brown — are equally inexperienced as Chiles.

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Easing that transition will be the arrival of fellow Oregon State transfers Tanner Miller and Jack Velling. Miller, a sixth-year offensive lineman, is expected to start at center and worked at that position on the Beavers’ second team with Chiles last season. And Velling, a junior, offers a familiar security blanket for Chiles either on checkdowns or designed pass plays to the tight end.

Also worth keeping an eye on: How does Chiles operate with the newly approved helmet communications system relaying play calls from new offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren (another Oregon State transplant)? That technology will be allowed for the first time this fall.

Return to running

Smith has given strong endorsements for returning running back Nathan Carter, who led MSU with 798 yards and four touchdowns on the ground last season. But the Spartans have been deficient in running the ball consistently extending back to the last few years of Dantonio’s tenure and ranked 125th out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams last season at just 89.5 rushing yards per game, the worst team average in school history.

But much of what happens on the ground will be incumbent upon a much more consistent push up front. New position coach Jim Michalczik has his offensive linemen playing more physical at the point of attack and “running through people,” as returning starting right guard Geno VanDeMark put it. But how deep that group is beyond Miler, VanDeMark and left tackle Brandon Baldwin remains to be seen after the graduation departure of Nick Samac and J.D. Duplain and the transfer of starting right tackle Spencer Brown and other backups.

Base schemes

Though it is unlikely much will be shown on either side of the ball during the scrimmage portion, it will be the first chance to get a glimpse of the type of things Lindgren wants to get done on offense and the basic structure of what new defensive coordinator Joe Rossi brings to MSU.

One of the more intriguing and unique parts of Rossi’s scheme is the hybrid rush end spot, which blends elements of a traditional defensive edge but from an upright stance that requires linebacker traits as well. Assistant coach Chad Wilt is working specifically with five players at that spot: Khris Bogle, Jalen Thompson, James Schott, Bai Jobe and walk-on Jay Coyne. Players have talked about the system as somewhere between a 4-3 and a 3-3-5 style, though Rossi has said much more nuance will come during preseason camp.

In the secondary, the battle for snaps at cornerback should be intriguing. Chance Rucker and Charles Brantley appear to have the edge, but Semar Melvin and Chester Kimbrough also provided a veteran presence. And though how Rossi plans to use ultra-versatile Dillion Tatum ends up — either safety, cornerback or nickel — won’t be determined Saturday, there could be clues to where the junior might end up fitting with fellow veterans Jaden Mangham, Malik Spencer and Angelo Grose also returning.

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Magnificent (front) seven?

MSU’s interior defensive line took a major hit Thursday when veteran starter Simeon Barrow entered the transfer portal for the second time in six months. Smith raved about how the Spartans have looked in the defensive trenches, and that puts the onus on junior Derrick Harmon and sixth-year senior Maverick Hanson to be anchors at tackle. Keep an eye Saturday, though, on two sixth-year senior transfers inside in D’Quan Douse (Georgia Tech) and Quindarius Dunnigan (Middle Tennessee State), both of whom add age, size and experience.

Opposite Bogle and the other edge rushers, the losses of Zion Young and Brandon Wright open more opportunities for the young group of defensive ends Tucker’s staff collected the past few years, including Ken Talley and Andrew DePaepe. Avery Dunn also returns to provide a fifth-year senior presence.

Don’t get attached

Perhaps the most important thing to know walking into Spartan Stadium on Saturday is this might be the last or only time you see some of these players in green and white. It’s just the nature of how things are going in the portal era, attrition that is inevitable rather than merely expected.

The NCAA’s spring transfer window for football is open through April 30. As of Friday afternoon, the Spartans already had four players who began the spring on the roster enter the portal this week: Barrow, offensive lineman Braden Miller and defensive backs Marqui Lowery and Eddie Pleasant III.

Lowery is a great example of the current state of college football, as he transferred to MSU from Louisville in 2021 and now will be seeking his third program to play for. Of the 104 players who began the spring on the Spartans’ roster, 38 of them (36.5%) have either transferred to MSU (26) or at one time or another been in the portal (12). Brantley entered the portal last spring and again in December, opting to return both times. Bogle transferred in from Florida in 2022, entered the portal again in early December then withdrew his name in early January. MSU is graduate transfer running back Jaren Mangham's third school.

So the reality is, take most of what happens Saturday at Spartan Stadium with a mineful of salt – because the portal goes both ways and rosters are fluid up until Smith’s actual debut against Florida Atlantic on the same field come Aug. 31.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football: What to watch in Saturday's 'Spring Showcase'