Following the team’s annual Green and White Spring Game in April, Dantonio expressed confidence in senior quarterback Andrew Maxwell — a confidence from Dantonio that still remains in the summer offseason.

“I think he’s refreshed,” Dantonio said in a media roundtable last week. “He’s ready to go, he’s experienced, he’s been able to step back and re-evaluate what he’s got to do — what he’s got to do physically and mentally. I think he’s ready to go.”

However, it’s not to say the rest of the quarterbacks on the roster are out of the mix. According to Dantonio, the Spartans have more experience top to bottom at quarterback than they’ve ever had in his tenure as head coach.

“We’re going to play the best player,” Dantonio said. “We’ve always tried to do that here.”

In his first season as starting quarterback, Maxwell and his wide receivers struggled to find a rhythm for much of the year.

After confidence in Maxwell faded down the stretch into the team’s postseason, then-freshman Connor Cook led a game-winning drive in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl against TCU in December 2012, and remains in the mix for the starting spot.

Tyler O’Connor also received reps in the Green and White game and spring practices and is expected to compete for a spot after redshirting in his freshman season a year ago. Incoming freshman Damion Terry from Cathedral Prep High School in Erie, Pa. also adds versatility to the depth chart.

“All of them bring something to the table, I think that’s the thing I’m excited about,” Dantonio said.

Dantonio said a lack of experience affected Maxwell in 2012, similar to former quarterback Kirk Cousins in 2009. He also expressed interest in avoiding going into another season with a quarterback with no experience.

Therefore, working out his quarterbacks and settling the quarterback rotation remains a major goal of the offseason.

“(We have to) find those inches — there’s a sense of resolve of what we have to better — to get over the hump,” Dantonio said.