After a long off-season that included a number of transfers and coaching changes, Michigan State football and head coach Mel Tucker have been increasing the intensity and focus as the team prepares to welcome in Central Michigan this Friday for their first game of the 2023 season. 

“I feel relentless focus with our coaches and with the players,” Tucker said. “We know what we have to do, what's at stake. We have prepared extremely hard this entire offseason to account and we got to be able to process one day at a time.” 

One of the bigger questions coming into the year has surrounded the starting battle between redshirt junior quarterback Noah Kim and redshirt freshman QB Katin Houser. While Tucker said that he thinks both are capable and talented, he was reluctant to name any names when it came to the starting job. 

After facing a deflating number of injuries, the program has placed an emphasis on keeping players healthy throughout the offseason. While there have been some bumps and bruises along the way, Tucker said, he likes the position his team is in now when it comes to health. 

“We came out of practice fairly well today,” Tucker said. "We had a full padded practice and we did a significant amount of hitting. And some guys had been nicked up but they're getting back on again. So we're in a better spot overall.” 

The injury bug especially decimated the offensive line last year, and on top of keeping that unit in shape, Tucker has been looking at surrounding positions to help bolster an element of the squad that seems to be a step above where they were in 2022. 

“The receivers have gotten better blocking, digging off the safeties and blocking the corners and our tight ends seem more coordinated,” Tucker said. “They have a better pad level and more drive along with more guys coming to the party in terms of running the ball. Our backfield guys are running hard, falling forward on contact, running through the smoke and stepping through the trash. I got an offensive line that seems to be in sync and physical. So I expect to see a really good panel, we have to be able to run the ball.” 

After going from an 11-win season in 2022 to a five-win campaign with no bowl game appearance, expectations have tempered drastically. However, Tucker said the pressure is all the same, and his goal is to win games while getting back to and improving on where the program once was just two falls ago. 

“I put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself all the time,” Tucker said. “I feel the same pressure I have felt every day and for the last 20-some years, to coach hard and to get to people that are around me to coach hard and play hard... I expect to win, and that's what we're doing here. And so it's not even about the pressure for me."