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Coach makes switch
Dan Enos considers himself lucky. For the second straight year, Enos is coaching whom he considers to be the best player on the MSU football team.
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Recruit picks MSU over U-M
MSU may have just landed the second coming of Matt Trannon with the verbal commitment of Fred Smith, one of the top wide receiver prospects for the Class of 2008.
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Tressel: Dantonio, staff add 'strength'
Lloyd Carr and Jim Tressel, the commandeering forces behind college football mega rivals Michigan and Ohio State, respectively, may not agree on many things, but they both praise the addition of MSU’s new head coach.
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Joe Pa heads into 42nd year at PSU
Chicago — At the age of 80, Joe Paterno still has the passion for coaching. Paterno will be leading Penn State into the season for the 42nd time as head coach in 2007.
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MSU adds a four-star recruit to 2007 roster
He's not the original "MJ," but he should certainly help matters for the MSU football team.
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Football recruit will receive chemotherapy
Arthur Ray Jr., a 2007 MSU football signee from Chicago, has been diagnosed with cancer and is awaiting chemotherapy.
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Green team pounds white
The White team came into Saturday's Green-White intrasquad game beaming with confidence. The players boasted, "Our team is stacked!
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Davis looks for big senior season
At 6-foot-6 and 254 pounds, senior Kellen Davis has the prototypical frame of an NFL tight end. But he has yet to put together a breakout season in his three years at MSU, totaling 28 catches for 276 yards and three touchdowns in 29 career games. That all may change under the new coaching staff, which makes an effort to involve the tight end in the offense and use the run to open up the pass. "I definitely feel like I'm going to be utilized more," said Davis, who caught a touchdown pass for the Green team in Saturday's scrimmage.
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Farewell to spring
Spring practice commenced one month ago today for the MSU football team, beginning the first true phase of Spartans football under new head coach Mark Dantonio.
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New scheme relies on running
Ask someone who follows the MSU football team for the differences between head coach Mark Dantonio and his predecessor, John L.
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Offense takes back green jerseys in 2nd spring scrimmage
Consider the score even. In the first spring football scrimmage of 2007, MSU's defense beat the offense, 71-70, on March 31. The offense struck back on Saturday, and junior running back Javon Ringer was a big reason why. After failing to break off any long runs in the first scrimmage, Ringer exploded for a 65-yard jaunt to the end zone and finished with 130 yards on 15 carries.
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Defense wants to play on instinct
When Mark Dantonio was introduced as MSU's newest head coach, he stressed that players play their best when they play the fastest, and they play the fastest when they know exactly what to do. Knowing "exactly what to do" wasn't a common theme in the previous coaching regime.
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Adams, defense adapt to scheme
For most players on the MSU football team, a new coaching regime brought new schemes and faces to learn.
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MSU tinkers with O-line to protect QB
Twenty-eight sacks. Think about that for a second. Twenty-eight sacks. In 11 games. The MSU football team had a long list of problems in 2006, but no group was more disappointing than the offensive line.
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Coaches want defensive line to be more mobile as season approaches
There's a belief in college football that while some conferences feature a fast and attacking style of play, the Big Ten is known as a slower, more physical conference.
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With knee in brace, Ringer ready for junior campaign
After sustaining a sprained right knee in MSU's fifth game of the season last year, Javon Ringer was supposed to miss the remainder of the year. Instead, he came back after missing four games and played the final three games of the season with a brace on the knee. Now that it's time for spring football, Ringer has healed, but the brace remains at the behest of the MSU staff. "We made a deal," Ringer said last Tuesday after spring practice.
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Wide receivers look to make impact
It seems like everything is new again for the MSU football team. New coaches. A (sort of) new quarterback.
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Football facelift
When Mark Dantonio was introduced as MSU's head football coach Nov. 27, he used the word "toughness" five times in a matter of minutes when describing his philosophy.
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Hoyer ready to accept starting QB position
Brian Hoyer got his feet wet at the end of MSU's 2006 season, filling in for injured starting quarterback Drew Stanton, who has used up eligibility. He's not just a substitute anymore.
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MSU wants to press secondary more
Opposing wide receivers might want to keep some breath mints handy. MSU's defensive backs plan on getting very up-close and personal next season. The secondary, one of the most maligned units on the MSU football team during the last few seasons, is revamping its philosophy and relying more heavily on press coverage, in which defensive backs make contact with receivers at the line of scrimmage in order to disrupt their routes. "It messes up timing more than anything," secondary coach Harlon Barnett said Friday after spring practice.