Well, I think we've discussed before how there are certain schools where you need a great coach to succeed, others where you need a good one, and the helmet schools where you just need to not screw it up.
To be fair, the roster Dantonio left behind was not good. And I get the mindset that they saw what peak Dantonio could be, and they simply didn't have enough talent to win a national title. So they went after a guy who might go for that talent. I said I didn't like it at the time, simply because I didn't think you could get enough of those guys to MSU, and you were missing out on the low 4*/high 3* guys you could get, chasing 5*s, but that was the plan.
I think NIL kind of screwed the plan up (before Tucker himself did). NIL money mattered more than recruiting prowess, and MSU's two largest donors sunk all of their money into a coach.
The trench play has gotten better.
The biggest problem is that MSU hasn't had a good QB since Lewerke pre-elbow injury. He was a shell of himself after the injury, Rocky Lombardi wasn't it, Thorne wasn't it, Kim has the arm strength but doesn't appear to be it either. The QB I like most on the roster is actually true freshman Sam Leavitt. More than RS freshman Katin Houser, who was more highly touted. But you can't throw a true freshman into this.
Maryland 28, Michigan State 23
