It's not really a roundtable anymore. There is no table. It's a podium session.
He was good. He was loose, funny, intense at times, all those things. We will have video and notes later.
Some initial info from the session:
* Regarding Adam Berghorst not being on the football roster, and choosing to focus on baseball.
Tucker:
“I love Bergie. He’s a great guy. He’s an outstanding athlete. He is doing some serious things on the baseball diamond and that’s where his focus is right now.
“I love the kid. We need all the help we can get and if he ever wanted to come back, I would be happy to talk to him about it.”
* Strong quote: "We are further ahead as a program than we were a year ago in every aspect, including strength and conditioning and just our overall culture. We are strengthening our culture and cementing it as opposed to building it."
* Sixth-year offensive guard Matt Carrick, a former starter, continues to be on schedule in his comeback from last year's lower body injury:
"Carrick, he's on the mend," Tucker said. "I feel like he's going to be able to help us. He has played a lot of football for us. He's been out but he has worked really hard to get back.
"We'll see how it unfolds when we hit camp and how far he has come."
Carrick is expected to compete for a job at right guard, with Carrick, center/guard Nick Samac and center/guard Brian Greene (Washington State transfer) also in the picture.
* On USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten, and what it can do for Michigan State recruiting in California:
"We recruit coast-to-coast. We have guys on our team from New Jersey and guys on our team from the West Coast, from California, Arizona, Nevada. It's only going to help our visibility and I believe just enhance it, with those players. They are going to see us playing against those teams that they are used to following.
"Those are two really good programs with a lot of history, a lot of tradition, good coaching and good players.
"Michigan State is a national brand and that's why we are able to go across the country and sign players, but I think it is just going to help our visibility and get in more homes of really good players out West."
* On MSU's linebackers:
"I believe it's going to be a really strong group for us and maybe the strength of our defense."
* When asked what was the biggest area of improvement last year, he said: "We took care of the football. We turned the ball over way too much in that COVID season and it cost us some games we really had a chance to win. That was the biggest improvement. The other thing is we were able to run the football more effectively."
* On inheriting Payton Thorne, Jayden Reed and Xavier Henderson when he became head coach:
"A lot gets made about the portal and recruiting, but there was a significant amount of guys on last year's team that were here when I took the job."
* On replacing the explosiveness that Michigan State lost with Kenneth Walker III and Jalen Nailor moving on to the NFL:
"We have guys. We aren't going to leave it up to just one guy to replace one guy. We are going to do it as a team. Guys are going to have to step up but I'm encouraged by what I see. I don't stay awake at night thinking we don't have enough good players."
He was good. He was loose, funny, intense at times, all those things. We will have video and notes later.
Some initial info from the session:
* Regarding Adam Berghorst not being on the football roster, and choosing to focus on baseball.
Tucker:
“I love Bergie. He’s a great guy. He’s an outstanding athlete. He is doing some serious things on the baseball diamond and that’s where his focus is right now.
“I love the kid. We need all the help we can get and if he ever wanted to come back, I would be happy to talk to him about it.”
* Strong quote: "We are further ahead as a program than we were a year ago in every aspect, including strength and conditioning and just our overall culture. We are strengthening our culture and cementing it as opposed to building it."
* Sixth-year offensive guard Matt Carrick, a former starter, continues to be on schedule in his comeback from last year's lower body injury:
"Carrick, he's on the mend," Tucker said. "I feel like he's going to be able to help us. He has played a lot of football for us. He's been out but he has worked really hard to get back.
"We'll see how it unfolds when we hit camp and how far he has come."
Carrick is expected to compete for a job at right guard, with Carrick, center/guard Nick Samac and center/guard Brian Greene (Washington State transfer) also in the picture.
* On USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten, and what it can do for Michigan State recruiting in California:
"We recruit coast-to-coast. We have guys on our team from New Jersey and guys on our team from the West Coast, from California, Arizona, Nevada. It's only going to help our visibility and I believe just enhance it, with those players. They are going to see us playing against those teams that they are used to following.
"Those are two really good programs with a lot of history, a lot of tradition, good coaching and good players.
"Michigan State is a national brand and that's why we are able to go across the country and sign players, but I think it is just going to help our visibility and get in more homes of really good players out West."
* On MSU's linebackers:
"I believe it's going to be a really strong group for us and maybe the strength of our defense."
* When asked what was the biggest area of improvement last year, he said: "We took care of the football. We turned the ball over way too much in that COVID season and it cost us some games we really had a chance to win. That was the biggest improvement. The other thing is we were able to run the football more effectively."
* On inheriting Payton Thorne, Jayden Reed and Xavier Henderson when he became head coach:
"A lot gets made about the portal and recruiting, but there was a significant amount of guys on last year's team that were here when I took the job."
* On replacing the explosiveness that Michigan State lost with Kenneth Walker III and Jalen Nailor moving on to the NFL:
"We have guys. We aren't going to leave it up to just one guy to replace one guy. We are going to do it as a team. Guys are going to have to step up but I'm encouraged by what I see. I don't stay awake at night thinking we don't have enough good players."
