Now four games into the season, Tucker believes he has a good handle on what he has on the roster. With that being said, Tucker believes they will need to continue to add to the roster to improve as a program.

“There's a certain type of culture and a certain type of player that we need to have here, and that's really non negotiable,” Tucker said. “Everything's in evaluation and halfway through the season, we have a pretty good idea of who can do what. You can anticipate seeing some kind of movement on our roster, whether it's you know portal related or otherwise.”

The main place to get started looking for roster additions is through recruiting, which was one of the main selling points with Tucker’s hiring last winter.

“We turn over every stone,” Tucker said. “We cast a broader net, it's a lot more work to do it that way, but we cast a broader net. If you want to sign 25 guys it’s typically an eight to one ratio (offers to commitments), you have to offer 200 guys. We're always well over 300 offers per class. They could be West coast, East coast, we go down South, obviously we want to start here in our state. We're fighting for the hearts and the minds of our high school coaches and our in-state prospects as well.”

Tucker has mentioned multiple times that if a player likes football, he probably likes the player. However, if you don’t want to give it your all, Tucker says find an exit.

“If they don't give effort and they don't want to be here, then they're going to be excused,” Tucker said. “You're going to be removed, we don't have time for that. This is Big Ten football, you're here for a reason, to play. This is not an optional situation, it’s a requirement that you'd go out there and you give effort to get better. If you're not out there to compete and you’re not out there to compete and to be the best, then you’re wasting time.”

Despite his strong words, Tucker believes that his team is ready to go out and play each game, citing execution as the center of the team’s latest struggles. These struggles are something Tucker is embracing so far.

“Maybe I'm a little crazy but I actually like trying to figure things out and trying to find a way to get better when it's tough and everything's hitting the fan,” Tucker said. “I like hunkering down and digging in with my guys and kind of circling the wagons, just focusing on getting better practicing and blocking everything else out. I really enjoy that because once you start to turn the corner and you see the improvement as a team, there's no better feeling than that.”

To turn that corner, establishing culture is key for the team moving forward.

“Culture is the number one thing because that's the foundation upon which you build your program on,” Tucker said. “There's a set of standards and a way of doing things and you recruit to that, you hold guys accountable to that and you hammer it every day. You have to be relentless with that because that's changing behavior, habits and things like that, that's not something that happens overnight, especially with a large number of players when you’re dealing with over 100 players.”

Tucker has seen some progress on certain sides of the ball, including the defensive line which has looked “stout” so far this season. Tucker mentioned young players like Jalen Hunt, Maverick Hansen and Dashaun Mallory as players that will provide big plays for years to come.

“You got four or five guys that you can roll in there and play stout football in the interior part of the line,” Tucker said. “That's certainly a bright spot and that's very encouraging.”

The one issue thus far for the Spartans has been quarterback play and turnovers. With that in mind, Tucker says it’s a real possibility for sophomore Theo Day and true freshman Noah Kim to get snaps at quarterback this season if deemed necessary. 

“That's a possibility,” Tucker said. “Those guys take reps in practice, so it's certainly possible for guys to step in there. I mean you see guys in other positions that are getting opportunities to play. Guys are showing up and then you see Angelo Grose out there playing the nickel spot as a true freshman. You See Davion Williams out there and you see the emergence of Jalen Hunt.”

With half the season left to go, expect Tucker to continue to play even more young players to find out what his current roster can bring to the table for years to come.